In denial because of You
by xx-Ash-xx-1
Summary: "What could be wrong about someone so perfect?" "I don't know! Maybe he picks his nose, wears Stars and Stripes boxers and sings "God Bless America" while shagging." Ino laughed. "It's more likely he's gay. They say all good-looking guys are gay." I giggled and with the phone still in between my shoulder and ear, turned around and came face to face with Sasuke. Shit.
1. Chapter 1

**In denial because of You**

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_Hey readers! Yep, im back and still alive! Anyways, I got a huge case of writers block for a while and this is something I came up with while trying to get rid of my writers block. Im absolutely sure that this is going to help me get back to writing my fanfics, but for now im sticking with this new one I've made. This chapter has been inspired by Book: Jumping to Confusions by Liz Rettig. Enjoy!_

_DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto nor Jumping to confusions. All rights belong to their original authors Masashi Kishimoto and Liz Rettig_.

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**Chapter 1: Meet the Uchiha's**

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It really wouldn't be so bad having pink hair if your mother didn't have luscious blonde hair, and if your cousin didn't have beautiful red hair. Not ginger red, but red red. And yes, you heard right, I have pink hair. Not only that but my mother, although she is nearly as old as my father ,who is 41 by the way, still gets men asking her out. There are even some boys at school who think my mother is 'Woah! Not bad for her age'.

Mind you, it's really my very non-identical distant cousin Karin who absolutely every guy at school slavers over. Like my mother, she was gorgeous in a way that made boys drool over her as if she had the word 'sexy' tattooed on her chest. Most guys would go as far as '_slaying a dragon'_ (as some extreme cases of boys have decided to put it in their poems describing their undying love for her) to just go out on one simple date with her.

Now don't get me wrong- it's not like I hate Karin or anything, even though she can be a pain in the ass sometimes, but being the not-so-good-looking family member isn't the greatest thing in the world. Attitudes of the guys in school and outside don't exactly help. It's annoying and almost humiliating that I've actually lost count of the amount of times guys have tried to get closer to me just so that in the end they can get a 'friendly introduction' to my cousin. Most of the time, they're just wasting their unwanted efforts. Unless they were extremely good looking, rich, drove and were prepared to spend tons of money on her, then they might as well bury their chances before they were hurt through Karin's harsh rejection. Most of the guys that she has been out with have fit these requests, but recently she's been after older guys who work and have more money.

I probably sound jealous to you. But in all honesty, it's kind of hard not to be. It's not like im ugly or anything; I quite like some of my features, which is okay I guess. But the fact that I probably have the world's largest forehead and most undeveloped chest in the whole school isn't something to celebrate. Sometimes, some of my mother's friends would say 'What a beautiful face!' which usually means shame about the boobs and the boyish figure. At least I have nice eyes to pride myself in. They're emerald green, fringed with thick dark lashes that tilt up at the sides like a cat.

My name is Sakura, although sometimes my friends call me Saks or Saku. My parents insist on calling me Sakura though; they think it's much more appropriate now that I am a 'young adult', although I hardly think that being 16 changes anything. They named me Sakura because of my pink hair and also because I was born during spring, the season that the Sakura flower tree blooms. I think it's a sensible choice, plus it suits me (or so I've heard).

Now you may be thinking- why am I talking about my cousin Karin like she is my sister? You see, the thing is, Karin is distantly related to my mother's side of the family. Her parents died in an unfortunate accident when she was only 3, and my mother instantly took her in, seeing as how she was the only family that Karin had. Ever since then, Karin and I have been living together in the same house as if we were sisters. We were both the same age, so a lot of people at start thought that we were actually twins, but I really couldn't see the resemblance, in looks nor in personality. Karin was a lot like my mum in personality, she was outgoing and loud but made a fuss about every little thing.

This, come to think of it, was what mum was doing now. She's been driving the whole family mad ever since this morning because this evening we've got Dads new boss and his family coming around. They're multi-millionaires who are originally from America, but they've been living in Japan for ten years and then moved to Britain for four years. They've been travelling and expanding the business ever since. Everyone in the company is dead scared that the new boss is going to end up firing everyone and selling the company off to benefit himself more than anyone else. After all, from what I've heard, these Uchiha's seem to be notoriously known for being cold hearted and uncaring, or so Dads co-workers say. Still, Dad says that we have to reserve judgement and just wait and see; we can't just jump to conclusions because of stupid rumours going around peoples tongues. Seeing as he's one of the managers, Dad has decided to invite the Uchiha's over and mum has been going mental with the stress of it all.

My sister and I on the other hand, had been planning on making ourselves scarce, rather than withstand the pressure of a boring dinner party. But mum's found out that they have a sixteen year old son and she's having none of it. Karin is furious because she was supposed to be going out with her new eighteen-year-old boyfriend today who fits Karin's entire list of requirements, but mum has refused her to go out anywhere today. She told mum "I don't know why I have to stick around and babysit some stupid little brat!"

"Oh come on Karin! He's name is Sasuke and he's sixteen, same age as you and Sakura! Anyways, it would be rude if you left when they know that we have two daughters in this household,"

Karin's tone softened afterwards, probably because of what mum said last, but she was still angry and said "Yeah right. Like some spotty, geeky spoilt rich kid would care if I was here or not. You just don't get it do you? Im not interested in immature sixteen year old boys anymore. Anyways, I've got better things to do on a Saturday night."

Still, mum was persistent and for once she didn't give in to Karin's demands, which was when she knew that mum was dead serious about this. "You're staying in for tonight, young lady, and you're helping us with our guests whether you like it or not."

Karin was in a nasty mood after that, and mum even more stressed out, so to say that I was grateful when my best friend Ino came over would have been an understatement. At least Ino wouldn't snap at me every time I tried to open my mouth. We went into the spare guest's room, the only room in the house that wasn't bombarded with noise, and laughed about how the Uchiha's might be like.

Ino said, "I mean what if they're all short and wore tight black suits and waxed their hair backwards?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah right Ino. Like a multi-millionaire family would look like that," Nonetheless I laughed.

Her eyes glinted with hint of mischief as she continued and said, "Well there must be something eye catching about them if everyone is making such a big deal over them,"

"None sense. They're just a really rich family, that's the only thing that everyone's really interested in. That and the fact that they're scared the boss is gonna end up firing everyone,"

"Oh I heard about that. But what about that sixteen year old son of theirs?" She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

"Oh no Ino Yamanaka, you are not playing match maker with me!"

"Please forehead! Why would I give him to you when I can just take him for myself? I mean come on; the boy's been living in Britain for four years! Doesn't sexy British accent scream anything to you?"

For the second time that afternoon, I rolled my eyes. "Is that the only thing that you can think about? Sometimes I regret telling you things Ino pig,"

"Hmmm, I bet Sasuke is really tall. And good looking, most business men heirs are good looking, unlike the boring guys we're stuck with here in Konoha High. Honestly, is a hot, young sexy guy too much to ask for?"

For the third time that afternoon I rolled my eyes. Trust Ino to fantasize about how he looked. I looked at her now, sitting down primly on the sofa opposite me. Long, slender legs were tucked beneath curvy hips and she was examining her straight, blonde ponytail for non-existent split ends. It was hard to believe that someone as beautiful as her could possibly be so hung-up about getting guys. Ino is, in my opinion, the prettiest girl in the whole school, good enough to compete beat even Karin.

"Honestly Ino," I sighed, exasperated, and then said "If you weren't so obsessed about how the guy had to look then you would have hundreds of guys waiting in line for you to pick from."

"Yeah well same goes to you! If you weren't so damn negative about how you looked then you would have had a boyfriend by now. Which, by the way, makes me wonder, how come you've never found anyone that you were remotely attracted to?"

I flushed. "I don't think negatively of myself! And it's not like I haven't found anyone, it's just that no one has-"

"Found you, blah-di-blah-di-blah, yeah we've heard your excuses Haruno, we don't need to hear them again." Ino interrupted, finishing my sentence off for me.

"They're not excuses, they're true facts! Look, Im just not interested in boys right now okay? Im quite happy being single, for you information."

This was true in a way. I've never actually had a proper boyfriend before, which at the age of sixteen makes some think that it isn't something for me to be really proud of. But I don't care, because Im in love with someone already. His name is Sasori, but due to certain circumstances we've had to keep our feelings secret. You see, Sasori, or Sasori Sensei, is actually my resistant materials teacher. And he's 23 years old.

He's mature and kind hearted. He isn't swayed by stuff like blonde hair and big boobs. And although his job isn't really academic related, he is still intelligent and thoughtful. I know for a fact that he returns my feelings for him, but obviously because of age and occupation circumstances we can't make our relationship public yet. He spends ages of his time talking to me about how excellent each and every one of my project productions are, and lending me books he recommends will help me improve and become even more skilful.

Of course, the fact that he's kind and thoughtful to all of his students can't be put aside- well, all students except for maybe ones like Zaku Abumi who thought that a tippexed drawing of Miss Anko topless was funny, or that it was appropriate to talk about his exaggeratedly large…well, you don't need to ask to know. Anyways, Mr Sasori doesn't put up with stupid behaviour from people like Zaku, but he's nice to nearly nice to everyone. However, I know that im extra special in his eyes, because his attitude towards me is different.

It was about 5 months ago when I knew it for sure. School had finished and I had stayed behind for an after school maths tuition class (I was tutoring some 13 year olds algebra). I was just about to make my way out of school when I had heard someone say my name. When I walked back, I saw Mr Sasori in a classroom that wasn't his, and get this; he was talking to someone on the phone about _me_. _Me! _I couldn't really catch what he was saying because I was so surprised at the time, but I could catch a few phrases. Something about how that specific 'shade of pink' clashed well with the 'the body tone and bright green', which I interpreted as the colour of my hair, skin and eyes. He also mentioned how beautiful I was and how just the sight of me lit up his mood. I only got a couple of seconds to catch a glimpse of what he was saying before I heard footsteps nearing the closed door I was trying to listen through. After that I ran away from the classroom as fast as I could and out of school.

I continued to act as though nothing had happened, yet everything had changed because now I knew for certain that he felt the same about me as I did for him.

Fortunately for us, no one else seemed to have realised that we have feelings for each other. Sometimes people would comment on how Mr Sasori always seemed to treat me better than he treated anyone else and teased me about how I was teacher's pet, but it was always because they thought that since I was good at resistant materials, he liked me better, rather than anything deeper.

On one hand im relieved; who knew what would happen to Mr Sasori if everyone knew that he, a teacher, likes a me, a student. But at the same time it's so frustrating that we can't be genuinely open about our emotions. At least Im sixteen now, which makes it legal for us to go out, but I guess I would have to wait until I left school before making anything public.

Waiting is so hard and boring though. We've been on summer holidays, and I haven't seen him for at least three weeks now, but it feels like forever. I spotted him once while I was walking through the shopping centre, and he smiled and said 'Hey', but that was about it. It was short and brief, but it made me happy nonetheless. Still, the fact that I missed him was true, and I couldn't wait until these next four weeks just passed.

I must have drifted off into some sort of daydream thinking about Mr Sasori, because Ino suddenly interrupted to say "Hello, Sakura, earth calling forehead, anybody there?"

I blinked and refocused my gaze back on Ino. "Sorry Ino, I was erm, thinking about something. What were you saying again?"

Ino rolled her eyes. "I said that obviously you're interested in boys, but I was talking about the non-fictional kind here, not Spiderman or Mr Darcy."

I shrugged. "Hey, I'll have you know that there are tons of people out there who have crushes on actors."

"Yeah they do, except they have crushes on the real actors, not the characters that you're in love with. I mean come on, a nineteenth-century landowner and a mutated half-spider-half-man? You're never going to just stumble across them while you're walking in the streets Saks."

I smiled. "You never know pig. Maybe this time in the next ten years a time machine would have been invented and I could travel back in time to meet a real life Mr Darcy, or maybe biology and genetic engineering would have developed in a way that would make it possible for a man to have spider like powers."

"Or Spider-like hands. Gosh, they would be useful in so many ways you know?"

I noted sarcastically, "No, I don't know. Enlighten me pig."

She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. "I would have thought that a girl with an imagination like yours would get what I was talking about already. Just think with me Sakura. A man with eight hands? He could multi-task,"

I raised an eyebrow. "What? Like clean, cook, iron and fold clothes all at the same time?"

Ino sighed audibly in a way that made it sound like she was frustrated or something. "No idiot. Im talking about in bed."

I flushed a deep crimson and my eyes bulged slightly out of my sockets as my jaw dropped down. "Ino!" I cried, trying to shake the disturbing mental images out of my now tainted brain.

"What?" She said, voice laced with fake innocence, before she laughed out uncontrollably. "Oh god! You really need to look in a mirror you know? You're face looks hilarious!"

I groaned and laced my fingers through my hair. Trust Ino to come out with something as inappropriate as this. "Well I'm over them now. I've grown up and out of those old loves, seriously."

"Hmmm," Ino said suspiciously, "I bet you haven't. I bet you've just fallen for another unobtainable male, only this time you've decided to keep quiet about it."

I tensed slightly at this. Did Ino…know about my feelings for Sasori? Was I that easy to read? I knew that Ino was my best friend and all but still, I was sure that I had hidden it to the point that no one would be able to even hint that I was feeling anything towards anyone.

"I know!" She let out a giggle. "It's Edward Cullen from twilight! Except not the actor, although he's admittedly quite hot, but the actual Vampire. You want a blood-sucking, mysterious immortal hottie to just suddenly appear in your life and swift you away."

I laughed as well in order to hide the un-comfortableness that I was feeling. I inwardly sighed in relief. I had to be admit, it was really hard keeping a secret from my best friend. Normally, we tell each other everything, but this time I couldn't tell my secret relationship with Sasori to her, it was too important and risky to share, even to someone I considered my best friend, plus I don't think that she would really understand anyways. Last year, when he had first started working at our school, I did point out to her that I thought he looked extremely attractive, but she'd just shrugged the thought away and said "Hmmm, he looks okay for his age, but he's a teacher, which means he's bound to be boring."

After that I had decided that it was better if I didn't mention him at all, and now Im sort of glad because the only way I was going to be sure that no one would find out about this secret was by telling no one about it.

I was relieved but at the same time disappointed when Karin barged in on us and interrupted Ino half-way through her talk about my secret lovers, face contorted as if she had just sucked a sour lemon. She snapped "Mum would like you to leave now, Ino. She says that me and Sakura have to start getting ready for our guests tonight, whether we want to or not apparently."

She stormed out afterwards, slamming the door shut in a way that caused an echo to ripple around the room. I smiled apologetically at Ino. "Sorry about that."

"Don't worry about it, Im used to her now anyways."

"Ino," I warned.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, she's like a sister to you. It still doesn't make her less of a pain though."

Rather than continuing our small arguing on Karin, I decided to steer away the conversation back on to our guests as I walked her to the door. "I don't know if Im going to like them Ino."

"What are you talking about Sakura? It's not important if you like them. It's important if they like your father."

"No you don't get it. Remember that time when that rich exchange student stayed over at Matsuri's last year and he couldn't stop boasting about how great being rich was and about how amazing the places he's been to were compared to Konoha? What if they turn out to be like him? What if I end up snapping at them or saying something really inappropriate that causes them to completely hate us then end up firing dad or something?"

"Sakura, you're over-stressing everything. Look, just calm down and breathe. Everything is going to go perfectly, especially with you! You're the nicest and most polite girl I've ever known, well after Hinata that is. If anyone is going to mess anything up, which they won't, then you would be the least likely person. And if you're really that worried about everything, just make yourself scarce around them. Problem solved!"

I laughed. "Well, I'll make sure to keep your advice in mind. And you're probably right anyways. Im just over exaggerating everything aren't I?"

Before Ino left she made me promise to look at Sasuke precisely so that I can tell her every single detail about him. She also made me promise to find out exactly how tall he was and how broad his shoulders were. We laughed at the thought of me greeting the Uchiha's with a measuring tape in my hand. "Hello there, Im Sakura! Now before you enter our house, let me just measure how tall you are, it's an old family tradition."

Ino left, still giggling, and I went back into the kitchen to peel vegetables and help my mother make the meal. She was freaking out because usually, when we're having guests over, she usually tends to just go out and buy something fancy but prepared, but this time our guests were keen on trying something that's originally from Konoha, and she was never good with the traditional foods. And Konoha was famously known for its delicious fish delicacies.

Thank god Aunt Kushina came over in time and helped us set up a menu to serve to our guests. For starters we decided to make Soba and Udon accompanied by Yakitori, followed by Omurice and curry, and lastly chocolate and strawberry trifle. I've volunteered to make the Omurice and curry while mum and dad are busying themselves with the starter. At least Aunt Kushina had saved us all time by already bringing the trifle prepared.

Throughout the whole time that we were getting everything prepared, Karin decided that it was the right time to make herself known by being a pain-constantly moaning and banging pots and pans as if she was a five year old. I was relieved when mum finally told her to just go upstairs and get herself ready. Doing her make-up and getting changed usually took her an hour, which meant that I would be safe from her ranting for a while at least. This time however, she surprised us all by stomping back downstairs after only 20 minutes, still complaining.

"Don't know why I'm even bothering getting all dressed up for some boring couple and their dorky son."

I sighed, totally fed up with Karin. "Look I know you're in a bad mood because you're missing you're date tonight, but for god's sake Karin it's not like he's going to leave you because you couldn't make it to one lousy date."

"Of course he isn't!" Karin said, shocked at the idea of a guy dumping her for a change. "Oh that's not the point though Sakura! You just don't get it do you? It doesn't matter to you if you spend your Saturday nights stuck at home bored out of your mind, but some of us have a life."

I inwardly winced at that comment. "Wow gee, thanks a lot Karin. You know it's not like Im a sad loner or anything, I do have friends."

"Oh my god Sakura! I didn't mean it like that! Oh don't go all sulky on me now!"

Karin was like a sister to me and all, and I really do love her. But sometimes she just went over the line and it made it hard for me to like her. Tonight for instance.

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Finally, the front door buzzed and at last we were all ready for our guests. We stood in neatly in the hallway to greet them, even Karin who had at first decided to not even bother but then changed her mind when Dad told her that she should better get her arse into the hallway or else, and waited for Dad to answer the door.

Our three guests were tall, pale and beautiful beyond belief, but, oh my God, the son! He had dark ebony coloured hair that was cut sharply at the edges; bangs framed his perfect face while the rest of the hair spiked backwards in this unusually sexy style. His seemed to be even darker than his hair, contrasting greatly next to his pale, smooth, spotless skin, and he had a lithe, tall athletic yet slim physique. His smirk was the type that caused girls to either faint or fan-girl scream, or both if possible, and his voice was rich and respectful in that confident, mysterious way that caused your brain to go senseless and your spine to tingle in sensation.

He extended a slender, firm hand for my father to shake, and then turned to greet my mother, my sister then me. Honestly, he was probably the handsomest, sexiest man I had ever laid eyes upon, and from the corner of my eyes I knew that Karin definitely agreed because she was blushing crazily as she mumbled an incoherent, unintelligible greeting. It was the first time I had seen Karin so worked up because of a guy, all awkward and smitten.

I glanced at her and grinned broadly, not caring about the fact that I probably looked pretty stupid at the moment, but it seemed like Sasuke had thought that the smile was directed towards him, because his pretty stoic face seemed to be slightly more displeased as he sent a frown towards Karin, before he looked over at me and smirked. It took all the willpower in me to not go all love-sick like Karin did as my smile widened even more and I said in my calmest, composed yet cheery voice "Hi, my name is Sakura, it's lovely to meet you."

He merely replied with a "Hn. Sasuke,", and I hoped that he did not catch the way my smile faltered slightly at the small amount of words he had chosen. Guess he wasn't much of a talker then.

Still, one look at Karin again caused my smile to widen again, this time in slight humour. This was going to interesting.

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_Shall I continue? Please Review! It only has to be a few words on what you thought about the story!_

_Thank you so much for reading chapter 1. Hopefully updates will be quick depending on what people say about the story and the number of demands it gets._

_Much Love_

_Ash_


	2. Chapter 2

**In denial because of You**

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_Second chapter here! I'm so glad that so many people have been able to read my story! It's great to hear about what all of you think in the reviews, so thank you to everyone who did review! Also thank you to everyone who followed and favourite my story, it's so appreciated and it makes me motivated to update sooner! Any ways, here's chapter 2. I would love it if you all spread the word about this fanfic and got more people reading and reviewing! Thank you! This chapter has been inspired by Book Jumping to Confusions by Liz Rettig._

_DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto nor do I own Book Jumping to Confusions. All rights are reserved for the original owners Masashi Kishimoto and Liz Rettig._

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**Chapter 2: Meet Sasuke Uchiha**

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We walked, still smiling broadly, into the living room. Karin quickly recovered from her previous humiliating act, and was soon back to her usual self-assured self, so I was really surprised when Sasuke didn't start drooling over her like most guys did. Still, it'd probably be a matter of minutes before he finally gave in to her 'charms' like most guys did. I could tell she was going to make sure that he did, due to the fact that she was acting completely strange around him. It was weird really, seeing her make such an effort with a guy since usually it was the other way around. All during dinner she was smiling constantly, her head tilted to the side towards him, her hair pushed away over one shoulder revealing the side of her long, slender neck. She tried to start a conversation multiple of times with him but to no avail as he merely answered with short, mumbled words or grunts. Even then, Karin pretended to be fascinated by his every comment and laughed enthusiastically when he (probably out of politeness) remarked on how excellent the Omurice tasted. I blushed at that comment and ended up looking down in order for my embarrassingly pink face to be hidden. He liked my cooking! I then stopped myself half-way through my almost fan girl thoughts and had to take a large, unmannerly gulp of the light alcoholic drink in my cup in order for me to regain composure, but instead ended up nearly choking on the beverage.

The whole table had turned to look at me, my family embarrassed, Mr and Mrs Uchiha concerned, and Sasuke…was that a smirk on his face? The nerve of that boy! And to think that about ten seconds ago I was fantasizing about how mature and sensible and amazingly gorgeous he was! I flushed even deeper in humiliation. Never had I felt so out of place in my life.

Mum swiftly tried to cover up the scene by moving on to a different subject, but it only caused more concern between everyone at the table. It was obvious that she was nervous, because she had drank quite a lot of wine, which is isn't like her at all (too many calories in alcohol), and started talking almost non-stop about everything and nothing. I knew that she was eager to please our guests, probably because this was really important for Dad's job, but I was beginning to resent the impression that she gave that they were somehow superior to us.

It was when she tried a different tactic and started boasting about how good looking Karin was that I really did cringe. Oh yes, Karin was beautiful wasn't she? The number of young admirer's she's had this year! She'd already broken some hearts, she could tell them. But you know she was so fussy - well, at least she could afford to be.

Mikoto Uchiha, Fugaku's wife, politely cut in and said "I think that both of your daughters are beautiful." She smiled at me wonderfully after that, and I took that as a hint that she liked me and was displeased with the way Mum kept on going on about Karin. I didn't know whether to be flattered or even more worried after that. So much for first impressions!

Mum took another swig of her wine and said, "Well Sakura is a darling, has such a great personality you know?" No mum, they did not know, but thanks for the compliment anyway. She might as well have said 'Sakura is the ugly one'.

Everyone seemed to be uncomfortable except for Mum, who continued on prattling oblivious to the awkward atmosphere in the air. "You know I think that she has great talent, especially for cooking. She made the Omurice and the curry for tonight!"

Everyone on the table turned to look at me and for the first time that night I really dreaded the fact that Mum had decided to compliment me. Sasuke's smirk widened even further as he looked at me out of the corner of his eye with a sense of humour and accomplishment. If I hadn't known better, I would have said that he had somehow linked the fact that I was blushing madly with his previous remark on how great my food tasted, but he's not that smart. At least I don't think he is…Oh my god Sasuke Uchiha is smart and now he probably thinks I like him or something and he's undoubtedly laughing at me on the inside because he thinks I'm a total desperate loser trying to compete with my much more beautiful sister for his attention. I had to look away, to distract myself, and unfortunately my gaze landed on his mother.

Mikoto Uchiha smiled deeply at me before saying "Well I think that you're extremely lucky to have such amazing talents in the family. Our Sasuke here doesn't even come near the stove!" Everyone except for Sasuke laughed at this, and I couldn't help but send a triumphant smirk of my own towards him. Hah! How does it feel to be humiliated now Sasuke? He merely replied to my smug smirk with a glare of his own that caused my laughter to immediately cease, though it went unnoticed by the adults and Karin. Geez, what was his problem?

After dinner was finally over, Karin and I cleared up while everyone moved outside to the garden lounge. It wasn't too cold and the garden lights illuminated the dark, making it perfect to sit out and have a calm, relaxing night.

Once we were in the kitchen, Karin turned around to me and asked if I would finish up while she 'rescued' Sasuke i.e. took him off into a quieter room to chat away from the adults. "Come one Sakura, do me this one favour. I'll let you borrow whatever you want of mine if you like."

I looked around at the kitchen. There wasn't a square centimetre not covered with piles of dishes, pots, pans or glasses. And our kitchen was pretty large in size.

Karin followed my gaze. "Okay I'll also pay you."

"How much?"

"Ten."

"Make it 20 and it's a deal."

Karin's jaw slightly dropped as she glared at me in disbelief. She pursed her lips shut and sighed. "Okay deal. The things I do for this boy!" She groaned out.

I rolled my eyes at her childish behaviour. Honestly, sometimes Karin was just so…senseless it was hard to believe. Still, the fact that it was also slightly amusing couldn't be denied, especially since for the first time ever, it's Karin who's making the effort with the boy.

"Mmmm, he is gorgeous though, isn't he?" Karin pondered aloud.

Yes, I suppose that even I couldn't deny the fact that Sasuke was extremely hot- the sort of boy who was totally out of my league. But not out of Karin's, of course. Watching her now hum to herself dreamily, it was hard for me to not be a little jealous of her. I don't know why, but when I looked at Sasuke, and then at Karin, I couldn't help but feel this unknown, uncontrollable emotion surge through me. But I knew one thing for sure, and that was that I shouldn't be feeling like this, not when I had someone like Sasori in my life. And Sasori was so mature, intelligent and sensitive. Far better than any schoolboy, no matter how good looking they were.

After Karin had left me alone in the kitchen to clear up, I had just started washing up when a call on my mobile phone from Ino had interrupted me.

"So how tall is he?"

"Hmm, tall enough to pass the high-heel test, Ino, but I think that Karin has probably beaten us to him. I think she's really keen on him."

Ino groaned. "Karin doesn't need another boyfriend! She's already got one! It's so unfair. Honestly, there should be a law against this sort of thing." She paused for a moment, then, seeming to accept inevitable defeat, continued, "Oh God! He must be something to interest Karin. Tell me all!"

With the phone pressed between the intense grip of my shoulder and ear, I moved towards the sink and turned on the tap to soak the pots as I filled her in. "God yeah! Ino he's gorgeous. So hot he sizzles. Everything about screams sex god, from his hair to his eyes to his jaw line, just everything! And his body is so toned that his muscles stick out from under his shirt, but he's slim and tall and oh god his looks are just perfect! But don't feel too jealous, he probably has some character defect."

"Oh yeah? What could be wrong about someone so fucking perfect?"

"Oh I don't know. Maybe he has a nose picking addiction. Or maybe he chews gum while he snogs, wears Stars and Stripes boxers and sings "God Bless America" while shagging."

Ino laughed. "It's more likely he's gay. They say all good-looking guys are gay."

I giggled, and with the phone still between my shoulder and ear, turned around and came face to face with Sasuke. Shit.

I blushed furiously as he stood by the doorway of the kitchen, a smirk plastered on his face.

Too surprised and mortified to say anything, I just hung up quickly and gawped at him like an idiot. How long had he been there? Oh god, how much had he _heard_?

After what was probably a few moments but felt like a year, I still hadn't said anything, and Sasuke shifted from one foot to the other. He looked up at me, a smirk still on his face and his expression even more amused, as he said "I thought I'd come through and see what you were up to, since Karin has gone upstairs to get some holiday snaps."

I stared at him, and when I still hadn't replied, he said "You know Sakura, I don't pick my nose. Neither do I own any Stars and Stripes boxers. And while I sometimes chew gums, I've never done it while 'snogging'. I'm guessing that's the same as kissing."

He said nothing about the 'God bless America' bit. Maybe he didn't know what shagging was either. God I hoped not. At least he hadn't heard what Ino had said about him being gay. I was so embarrassed that I didn't know what on earth to say to him afterwards. It seemed like whenever I was near Sasuke Uchiha, I was prone to humiliating myself. Deciding that attack was the best form of defence, I said, 'Well there was no need for you to come and check up on me you know, thanks all the same, but, erm, have you never heard of knocking before entering a room?"

He wasn't smirking any more, but the amusement in his eyes didn't seem to have left as he raised one dark delicate eyebrow and said "Knock before entering a kitchen? When the door is wide open? No I hadn't thought about it, I apologize."

If there was a Nobel Prize award for the world's biggest and most humiliating loser ever, then I think I would have been the top nominee all the time. Why couldn't the ground just crack open and swallow me up and whole right there and then?

He walked over to fridge, pulled the door open, and peered into it. I blinked. Okay so maybe that was not expected at all. "Um, what are you doing?" I asked quizzically. Call me stupid, but I didn't think that it was normal or usual for a stranger to just start randomly rummaging through someone's fridge without actually having permission. So much for top notch manners.

He never answered my question, but instead pulled his head out of the fridge and almost rudely, if he hadn't done it so gracefully, pushed me away from the sink, before he turned the tap on and started washing…wait, was that a tomato?

I blinked again, just to make sure that what I was seeing things correctly, and when it really did turn out to be a tomato, I couldn't help but stare at his face in a way that made what was running through my head clear; 'Are you serious?'.

"You know it's rude to stare, although it's not like this is the first time you've stared at me." He said, gaze still focused on the tomato that he was washing.

I swear that my eyes must have just popped out of my sockets and rolled away somewhere, probably under the fridge, as my jaw dropped down so quickly that I'm sure it's been dislocated. He tilted his head to stare at me, an indifferent look on his face, as he lifted the tomato up to his lips and took a bite out of it. Then he walked off, but not before making sure that I was able to see clearly the way the corner of his mouth tilted upwards at one side.

I was sure that Sasuke had heard me talk about how good looking he was. Oh God, maybe he thought I fancied him or something and now I was intending to get off with him. I blushed uncontrollably again. How degrading. I must make it clear to him that there is no way I'm competing with my sister for his attention. Not if I wanted to humiliate myself even further.

By the time that I had finished completely in the kitchen, I felt quite tired and just wanted to curl up in a small, insignificant ball on my bed and sleep away the embarrassment of the evening, but Mum had worked hard for tonight and she had made sure to warn both me and Karin to make ourselves 'sociable' around our guests, not that Karin seemed to be doing anything but. She had said that I wasn't a kid anymore who could just ignore the fact that we had guests; I had to do my bit to entertain. I was pretty sure that Karin- and Sasuke come to that- wanted my company right now as much as people wanted a verruca in a swimming pool, but I would have to join them.

I took my phone with me and, after knocking (in case they'd already taken their relationship up a stage), walked in to find Karin and Sasuke sat on our black leather sofa looking at an album of Holiday snaps of when we had went to Suna last year. Oh God, I hoped she wouldn't be showing him any of me in my bikini with a body of a twelve year old.

I smiled at them, although I was cringing on the inside, as I walked further into our newly furnished house lounge and curled in the arm chair with my phone, ignoring them. Or tried to anyways, but Sasuke kept on looking up from the album to talk to me. Oh so now he wanted to make a conversation?

At first I had answered politely to most of his questions- he was a guest after all- but then the questions started turning slightly more personal and I didn't know if he was doing it on purpose to just annoy me. Yeah, pink hair really was unusual. Oh it was natural? How strange!

Annoyed by the scene in the kitchen and also sensing Karin's slight impatience at his failure to drool over her photos, I told him abruptly "Yes, it's not every day a pink haired baby is born. Now if you don't mind, I'm _trying_ to read a book."

He scowled but instantly replaced it with an indifferent look again as he immediately apologized for interrupting me, which of course made me feel guilty. After that, he stopped speaking to me completely. The truth was, I was the one being rude and his apology just seemed to underline that. If he had thought that I was a humiliating idiot before, he now probably thought that I was a rude, humiliating idiot. Oh God no. What if this ruined the chances of my dad and his boss's relationship becoming better? Mum would kill me!

I found myself unable to concentrate on my book after all. Unlike my sister, I wasn't widely popular with boys, but I'd always been able to better them in any argument and few took me on any more (the ones who did usually ended up in hospital for x-rays). Yet this arrogant, self-centred guy seemed to have put me in the wrong without having openly criticized or confronted me at all.

I was relieved when Mum eventually came to tell Sasuke that his parents were leaving.

After she had left the room Karin turned to Sasuke and said, "So Sasuke, tonight has been really fun. Maybe we can meet up sometime without our parents around to check up on us. Is there anything you like to do in particular?"

Sasuke eyed Karin uninterestedly as he replied, "I'm going to be busy these days with the whole move and helping my Father with the company."

I scowled. Karin was trying so hard and he seemed to be playing hard to get. What was wrong with him?

"Well I'm sure that you can get a day off if we just ask your parents." I cut in, smugly. I hid my face with my phone when he gave me a look that clearly told me to 'stay out' of it.

Karin, oblivious to the tension in the air between me and Sasuke, squealed in delight before she cried "That's a great idea!". She dragged Sasuke out the room and to his parents, while I followed behind them begrudgingly.

By the time Karin had asked permission from Mr and Mrs Uchiha, everyone was already by the door saying their goodbyes. Mr and Mrs Uchiha gladly agreed, and I had to bite the inside of my cheeks to stop myself from bursting out into fits of laughter, because Sasuke looked like he had just been slapped in the face.

"So how about tennis then? I'm a member of a club just ten minutes from here and I know that a couple of people have cancelled bookings. I'm pretty sure that we'll be able to get a court."

Well, Karin wasn't wasting any time. I had to admire her choice too. She looks fantastic in her short white tennis skirt and has always said that it was probably one of her best pulling outfit.

However, instead of agreeing straight away, Sasuke turned to me, and with a hint of something along the lines of mischief and revenge in his eyes asked "Do you play, Sakura?"

"No, not my thing." I instantly replied, a bit too quickly.

"Well how about we do something we can all enjoy."

Oh no, he was going to be one of those well-mannered types that Karin attracts sometimes. The ones who feel they ought to pay some attention to the plain sister too. Personally I prefer the straight-forward ones who ignore me. It's more honest and doesn't waste everyone's time.

There was also a large chance that he was doing this on purpose to get on my nerves and try and get me involved in something he so clearly knew that I did not want to be a part of. Well, I wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of seeing me lose.

I said, "Look, it's totally fine . You and Karin just go on ahead without me.

But Sasuke was adamant I be included and nothing would shift him, or the hard glare he was giving me out of the corner of his eye.

Eventually Karin suggested that I come along to the tennis club just to watch, not to play. The thought of acting like a chaperone on Karin's date had about as much appeal as having a tooth drilled without anaesthetic but Karin pleaded with me. "Oh come on Sakura. You know how much you enjoy the atmosphere at the club- you often come to watch people play."

I inwardly scoffed. Yeah right, like as much Ino watched football. I can think of a million better ways to spend an afternoon- it wasn't exactly rocket science. Still, Karin was like my sister and I hadn't seen her this keen on anyone. Speaking of Ino, maybe I can actually get her to come along too, so I wouldn't feel like I was in the way. Reluctantly, I agreed.

We all piled by the door again to say good bye. Mum was carefully trying to conceal her relief that her ordeal was over without any major mishap. Sasuke's Mum and Dad appeared to have really enjoyed themselves and said that they must have us over to their place sometime soon. Sasuke thanked us for the night too and everything was fine until he turned around at the last minute, smirking at me before he concealed it with another uninterested look as he said "Oh and by the way Sakura, before I forgot-what does shagging mean?"

I did a double take as my stomach lurched and I felt my cheeks go a colour that put Karin's hair to shame. But worse followed Sasuke's Mum, who answered for him and said "Don't be silly Sasuke, you know perfectly well what shagging is. Your aunt and uncle used to do it all the time. Do you shag Sakura? Back home its usually older people who enjoy shagging. Fugaku and I used to know a couple of people who were very keen on it and won several competitions. But I've never known any young enthusiast."

I just stared at her, red-faced and horrified. She'd seemed quite normal and nice at dinner but this woman was seriously weird. Maybe all foreigners are weirder than I thought. What on earth could I say?

Dad frowned at me, before saying slowly, "It's a type of dance, Sakura, which is especially popular in the south-east of America." He turned to Sasuke's Mum. "And no, Sakura doesn't enjoy, erm, shagging as much. She's more into modern dance. Sasuke must have misheard."

Karin put her hands over her mouth to stop herself from laughing but Mum was glaring at me. I just stayed completely still and tried to look normal. Then I saw Sasuke smirking widely at me, the closest thing I have seen him do to a smile, and I realised immediately that he knew exactly what shagging meant here. He'd deliberately said it to wound me up. I decided right there and then that after tomorrow I would have as little to do with Sasuke as possible.

After they had left, I expected my parents, especially my Mum, to have a go at me about the whole shagging thing, but thankfully they said nothing. I overheard them arguing though about it later. Mum was saying that obviously I'd used disgusting, common language in front of one of our most important guests- it was completely unacceptable and they should have words with me about it.

But Dad just said, "Leave it alone, for God's sake, Mebuki. Let's face it, with two teenaged daughters living in this house, there's no point in going looking for trouble. The incident's not even that important. And besides, I'm too fucked up to be arsed talking to Sakura about her bad language." Thank God Dad's a bit more laid back about how we speak than Mum.

Once Karin and I had cleared up the coffee cups and the wine glasses I wanted to go straight to bed but had to listen to Karin going on about Sasuke. Wasn't he gorgeous! And she just loved his accent. What did I think?

I nodded my head in agreement at everything she had said, before I finally managed to slip away and escape to my room. I took the photograph of Sasori and me from the drawer of my bedside table out and gazed at it fondly. When I say Sasori and me, I actually mean Sasori and the whole of our class out in a festival, but he's standing right next to me and, I swear, looking at me rather than camera. I gazed at it for a moment then sighed. I wish I had a bigger photo of him that I could kiss, as my lips being larger than his whole head doesn't seem right somehow, but I couldn't ask for one without people getting suspicious. Not that I even kiss his face in the first place, because that just would be…strange.

* * *

~...~

* * *

Ino couldn't come to the tennis club because she had to go shopping with her mum. Her mum was in a good mood and Ino was sure that she could persuade her to buy this new skirt from Zara that she's had her eye on other than the usual school stuff that they were supposed to be getting. You had to strike when the iron was hot, as Ino liked to say.

I called up some other besties but everyone was busy. Hinata had a social behaviour tutoring class arranged by her father that she had to attend, Tenten was in her Karate lessons preparing for her next match and Temari was currently out of town. Luckily aunt Kushina came over to find out how the dinner had gone and Naruto came along with her. As well as being like a cousin to me, Naruto was also one of my closest friends so I managed to persuade him to go with me.

Naruto has just turned seventeen, although he is only a couple of months older than me, and attends the same school as me. He had just come back from a two-week camping holiday in Greece, and his sun-kissed skin seemed to be even tanner, making his blue eyes and freshly cut, golden blonde hair radiate brightly against his complexion. I wondered if Hinata would like it. Naruto wasn't the smartest off boys, but he looked fantastic and he had a good body- very fit and muscular- so quite a lot of girls fancied him (until they found out about his ramen obsession). It was obvious to everyone that Hinata loved him, except to maybe him, which is why I say that Naruto isn't the smartest of boys. You would think that after five years of being around a girl who blushed madly at the sight of you would drop a few hints, but nothing seemed to get past Naruto's very thick skull. It was a pity really because she was dead keen on him and he had mentioned to me earlier that he found her very attractive, but none of them were brave enough to make the first move.

Mum asked me to make her and Aunt Kushina some tea. Naruto came in to help me while Karin went upstairs to get ready for her tennis date. As soon as we were alone Naruto turned to me and grinned. "So, Sakura, how have you been? Been anywhere with your friends lately?"

I studied him sceptically. "You look and sound awfully interested in my social life Naruto. Something up?"

He laughed a little too nervously for my liking as he placed his hand behind his head. "What, so I can't ask about how my favourite girl has been?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Are you talking about me or Hinata? Because recently you've been acting a little strange when you're around her."

Naruto, although was tanned, blushed brightly and ended up having to cough to cover up his embarrassment. I inwardly grinned. Seems like I've hit the target.

"Just forget I asked." He mumbled, and I genuinely felt sorry for the guy. Maybe Naruto, the most outgoing, sociable guy that I had ever met, was actually feeling shy when it came to Hinata. Maybe he had finally realised that Hinata had a massive crush on him!

He groaned before I was even able to speak, instantly changing the subject. "What is it with some girls? They're so picky and difficult to please! Like Karin, for instance."

"Watch it, that's my sister you're talking about."

"Yeah, well I don't see the need for all that make-up she slobbers on her face anyway. People aren't daft; they know make-up when they see it…unlike some people I could mention."

Dad, who had been working on his laptop all day, came in to get coffee so I made one for him.

"Thanks sweetheart, I needed this," he said, taking the cup away from me.

"Dad, it's Sunday," I said, looking at his tired face. "You need a rest. Do you really have to work every weekend?"

"Just another half-hour or so to do. I'm fine. Honestly."

He turned to Naruto. "So, I hear you're going along with my girls to meet this young lad?"

"Yeah, Sakura asked me."

"He seems nice enough but you never know," Dad said, his voice mock serious. "Some of the boys these days can be smooth-talking charmers when they want to be. You'll take care of my girls for me, won't you? Especially Sakura. I think he might have taken a bit of a shine to her."

Naruto made a sweeping bow. "I'll defend our women's honour with my life."

"You idiot." I laughed, and then smiled at Dad. "Honestly, I'll be perfectly safe. Sasuke was just being polite last night." I winced at the way the word polite seemed to sound strained out of my mouth.

My dad is really nice. Unlike my Mum, who I'm sure doesn't do it on purpose, Dad seems to think that I am just as pretty as Karin. Mental, I know, but I suppose it's like what people say, "Love is blind," and I must admit it's nice to have one parent who doesn't see me as the plain daughter.

Aunt Kushina let Naruto borrow the car so that he could drive us to the tennis court- she would get a lift home from Mum. Since Naruto has only just passed his driver's licence, his Mum lets him drive the car almost as much as Dad gets free weekends; hardly ever. But because she hates driving, she sometimes lets him drive the car, provided he also chauffeurs her about. Today was a special occasion.

It was past time to go so Naruto was getting annoyed by the time Karin came down the stairs looking at her watch to time our departure. Karin's policy is to be at least ten minutes late for a date, often more. She looked particularly good today in her white tennis gear, her hair up in a neat swingy ponytail and wearing just a hint of foundation, eye-liner, mascara and blusher. Her lips were glossed up in a pale pink colour. I sighed. While it was so hard not to be jealous of her, I was also oddly proud of her too. Yes, one of the best looking girls in the whole year was in fact my sister. I was sure that Sasuke hadn't dated anyone prettier than her before. She would be a credit to him.

Naruto and I hurried out to the car while Karin strolled along behind us. When he ushered me into the front seat, however, Karin jogged up to complain about being relegated to the back.

"I get car sick at the back, you know I do."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Quit moaning," he said. "It's only a ten-minute drive. You'll be fine."

Karin got into the back, scowling.

Like Ino, Naruto wasn't too fond of Karin either. It was weird actually, because she was more biologically related to him than she was to me. You see, the thing is, Karin and Naruto's families are actually not that distant from each other, which means that I may have slightly lied when I said that we were the only family Karin had. During the time of the accident, it was actually Naruto's parents, Kushina and Minato, that were asked to take Karin in, but they were unable to because they were on a business trip around the world. Coming back would mean that their whole career would be ruined, so they had asked for my parents to take her in, seeing as they were the next in line, until they came back from the business trip.

But by the time they had come back, Mum, Dad and I had already grown too fond of her and Mum, in order to keep Karin, said that it would be unfair to put a small child through so much stress in her life by making her move houses and families so much. And because she was so adamant, Karin stayed with us in the end.

It was also through Karin that we met with Auntie Kushina and Uncle Minato, and of course, Naruto. We all went to the same school ever since we were five, and Aunt Kushina and Uncle Minato insisted that they come over and visit Karin after school almost every day and most times on weekends. It had happened so often that we considered ourselves a family.

This however, did not mean that Naruto liked her. We had a fight over it once when he said that Karin was a selfish cow who was so up herself it wasn't true. We fell out after that for nearly a month, until he eventually apologized and promised to never insult her again. At least to my face. I wasn't happy with the last bit but put up with it. After all, Karin couldn't be bothered with Naruto either and usually decides to ignore him in a way that made it seem like he didn't exist.

Sasuke was waiting for us outside of the clubhouse, by an expensive looking motorcycle, looking relaxed and composed as ever. He was wearing tennis gear that fit him perfectly in all the right places, giving him a slim yet muscular figure. I was sure that under that shirt were well toned, perfect abs. Hmmm…abs. I shook myself out of my trance. No, I wouldn't be fooled by his looks! Plus, he was Karin's, so there was no way that I would even dare think about him in that way. I couldn't help but think what a good-looking couple they would make. Maybe this would be the guy who succeeded in dating my sister for more than six weeks; her record up until now.

He spotted Karin and me first, because we were the first ones out of the car, and frowned slightly. Probably annoyed by the fact that I had to come as well, but then again he was the one to suggest the idea in the first place, so shame on him. Naruto went to go and find a place to park the car in, so it was just me, Karin and Sasuke. Karin was beaming at him and instantly started talking about how great he looked, but he seemed uninterested and instead decided to gaze at me throughout the whole talk, making it unbearably awkward and uncomfortable. I couldn't wait until Naruto came, at least then I wouldn't feel like I was the third wheel in this…relationship or something. Naruto was sociable, he would be able to befriend Sasuke in no time, and maybe also help him get rid of that nasty attitude of his as well.

I couldn't think of a time where I was happier at the sight of Naruto then right now. He came jogging up to us, the light reflecting off him making it look like as if he sun had just arrived (or maybe that was in my eyes only, but still).

"Sorry about that, I had to fight for a place to park the car in. You would think that an innocent, old lady would be intimidated by the sight of a teenager, but this one just ended up shouting at me!"

I laughed none the less, probably a bit too exaggeratedly, and then introduced Naruto to Sasuke. But unlike what I had first expected from Naruto, which was a boisterous greeting and a hand shake, he instead surprised me by staring at Sasuke as if he was some sort of ghost. Then he glared.

"Teme…?" He hissed in suspicion, and I gazed at him, mortified by the insult that Naruto had just thrown at my Dad's boss's son. Was he trying to make my Dad lose his job!?

"Naruto!" Karin cried. If Karin had an inch of respect left for Naruto before, it was probably all gone now. "Apologize to Sasuke right away!"

I turned to Sasuke. "I'm so sorry about that Sasuke, Naruto probably didn't mean-"

Sasuke closed his eyes and exhaled deeply. He completely ignored me as he opened his eyes again ad said "Never thought I'd be seeing you again, Dobe."

My jaw dropped to the ground. Was I missing something? Had my annoying, loud mouth best friend Naruto met Sasuke before?

"Teme you sick asshole! What the fuck are you doing here?" Naruto cried, though it sounded anything but insulting, as he laughed happily and reached out to Sasuke for a manly hug. Said boy rolled his eyes but none the less lifted his hand up and patted Naruto on the back.

It was really brief, and when they had parted Naruto winked and said, "I know that you love dick and all, but please refrain from groping me next time!"

Sasuke glared, but quickly replaced the glare with an expressionless face and said, "Dobe, you're the same as ever; still dick-less."

"Excuse me could someone please explain to me what's going on!?" Karin shrieked, and I couldn't agree with her more.

* * *

~...~

* * *

The court that Karin had booked wouldn't be ready for another fifteen minutes so we ordered Coke from the club café and, as it was a warm sunny day, sat at the table outside where we could watch the tennis and chat. It was during that time that Naruto had explained everything to us. Turns out that Naruto and Sasuke had met abroad while both of their parents happened to be on the same business trip. The first time they were acquainted, they were both five years old and declared themselves as rivals. On the second business trip, Naruto and Sasuke were both 10, and Uncle Minato's and Mr Fugaku's companies were working together for some sort of sales agreement, and it was during then that their friendship grew into a brotherly rival. Ever since then, they had apparently been best friends, but as time had passed and both had to return back to their home places, they talked less and less to each other. And now, after six years, they had finally met again. It really is a small world.

To Karin's annoyance, Sasuke and Naruto were soon engrossed in a conversation about which one of the two was better and largely ignored us. I tried to divert Karin by talking about her plans for next week but she wasn't interested so I ended up tuning everyone out, sat back and sipped my coke while enjoying the sun shine on my face.

Eventually, fed up with being ignored, Karin interrupted Sasuke and Naruto. "So, Sasuke, is there anyone other than Naruto that you had met while you were abroad? Like a girlfriend maybe?"

"No one special."

"Me neither. I'm not seeing anyone special at the moment."

Naruto said, "I though you were seeing that guy from-"

"Not anymore," Karin snapped. "That finished a while ago."

Naruto rose an eyebrow sceptically. "Don't suppose you've bothered to tell _him_ about it."

Karin scowled and was about to have a rant at him, but changed her mind. Instead, looking at Sasuke, she said, "We just kind of drifted apart."

Yeah, right. As soon as she set her eyes on Sasuke. More like an avalanche than a drift. I smiled at the thought.

Sasuke smirked back at me. "What about you Sakura? Do you have a boyfriend?"

Before I could answer Naruto butted in. "Nah, Sakura is still single. No one's been brave enough yet to get passed her ' Touch me and I'll smash you balls' signal that she posts up loud and clear." He looked at me. "Isn't that right Sakura? You don't date."

I laughed nervously. "Well, with all the idiot guys around, I don't think you can blame me."

Naruto looked at Sasuke and shrugged. "See what I mean? And this is when she likes you."

Sasuke, still smirking, said, "Oh is that true now? Aren't you interested in dating at all Sakura? Or maybe you're just waiting for the right person to come along?" I didn't like the way that his voice had a hint of mockery in it, but I decided to dismiss it when no one else seemed to notice. Maybe it was just me.

I thought of Sasori and smiled dreamily. "Mmmm, yeah, maybe I'm just waiting for the right person."

"Oh for God's sake," Karin interrupted. "Are we going to sit around here talking rubbish all day?" She looked over at Sasuke. "Our court has been available for over 5 minutes now, so are we gonna play or not?"

I was abit taken aback by Karin's rudeness, but I suspected that she was angry because Sasuke wasn't paying enough attention to her, and she wasn't used to guys ignoring her.

Sasuke frowned and I thought for a moment that he was going to tell her to 'fuck it', which really would have been a shock, but then he just pursed his lips in a thin line and then stood up, walking towards the tennis court. Karin ran after him, pleased that he had listened.

Karin was a good tennis player but it was soon obvious that she was totally outclassed by Sasuke. Except on TV, I'd never seen anyone play tennis like him. For the entire game he just seemed to stand casually in the middle of the court, lobbing balls easily at Karin over the net, sending her running about frantically all over the place after shots she was almost never able to return.

After just twenty minutes it was game, set and match, with Sasuke winning by a crushing six-love, so they returned back to the table. Karin's face was scarlet and dripping with sweat. That and her grumpy expression made her look as close to ugly as I'd ever seen her. She threw down her racket and gasped, saying that she was going off to the changing room to freshen up.

By contrast Sasuke was cool and relaxed; looked as though he had nothing more than a mere walk in the park. He remained standing at the table, twirling his racket expertly between his fingers. "So, anyone else up for a game?"

"I'd love to join you teme, but I'm afraid that tennis isn't really my game."

"What, you scared about losing to me?"

Naruto glared. "Yeah right, keep dreaming teme. Sakura used to play though."

I hated Naruto right there and then. It was true that I used to play when I was younger and I wasn't that bad at it, but that didn't mean that Naruto had to use me as the change of subject! Seeing Sasuke play like a professional earlier against my much more experienced sister gave me the perfect reason for not going up there. I decided that I wasn't going to be humiliated on court like my sister by some show-off. Aloud, I just said politely, "No thanks, it was a long time ago, so I think I'll just pass."

But Sasuke had taken me by the arm and not too gently actually, hauled me up from my chair. He passed me my sister's racket and said "C'mon Sakura, no sense in letting the court go to waste. If you're really worried about not being able to play, then how about I give you a refreshing lesson?"

I stared up at his face, looking for the sincerity in his eyes. He looked back down at me, and for a moment, it felt like we almost shared…something, like a connection. It lasted about less than a second and was broken when he removed his hand away from my arm and I looked away, a blush fighting its way to my cheeks. I coughed awkwardly, and when I looked back, he was gazing at me, one eyebrow lifted up neatly.

I found myself reluctantly agreeing to play. I didn't really have a choice, because he had walked off and was preparing the court for the new game. As it turned out though, I had a great time. Sasuke, knowing that I hadn't played in ages, was surprisingly nice to me for a change. We didn't play a proper game at first, but instead decided to practice. He lobbed very easy shots at me until I was eventually returning them constantly. Then he made them gradually harder, and I started missing a few. He taught me how to serve properly, firstly demonstrating a few times, and then guiding my arm and racket, showing me how to aim and swing. Afterwards I just practiced serves, which Sasuke stopped and then lobbed over for me to try again. Eventually I managed to smash one into the far corner of the court so that he missed it. I was so happy that I threw my racket in the air in triumph and Sasuke came to the net to high-five me.

Finally we played a set, which I lost six-love, but at least I managed to make it last a while. When our time was up on court I was actually disappointed. As we walked back Sasuke said, "Nice game Sakura, not bad at all. I think you've got a real flair to tennis. With some extra practice you could be really good."

"Do you really think so?" I said, flattered that someone as good as Sasuke at tennis thought that I had talent.

"Sure. But you need to work on your technique and fitness."

I was mortified and furious. He might as well have said 'fatness' and be done with it. He had no right to make comments like that to me; no one asked for his opinion. Sasuke had asked me to play on purpose just to make a fool of me, again. I should have known better than to let my guard down with someone like him and I silently vowed it would never happen again.

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~...~

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Sasuke said that he was going to go back home on his motorbike, but Naruto refused and insisted that Sasuke come with us; he wanted to show Sasuke around and catch up with him. So Sasuke called someone to come and take his motorbike, while we all piled into the car, Sasuke and Naruto at the front while Karin and I sat at the back. We were both in a bad mood, but, typical guys, Naruto and Sasuke didn't seem to notice as they had drifted off talking about something else, cars and driving probably.

I wasn't paying much attention until Sasuke mentioned his car and how much he missed it. I nudged Karin. "This is the one Karin. He even has a car! How great is that?"

"So what? I've been out with tons of guys who can drive. It's not something that big."

Since it was obvious that Karin was too annoyed to attempt any kind of conversation with me, I amused myself by daydreaming about Sasori. In this fantasy, he was confessing his undying love for me that he had suppressed all those years but was now finally able to make them known. We'd just elope today and face the consequences tomorrow.

I was interrupted in this very nice dream by Sasuke, who had twisted his neck around to look at me. "You look happy. What are you smiling about?"

I frowned at the interruption and was about to tell him 'Nothing really, hoping that he would go back to minding his own business when, Oh my God, I spotted_ him _walking into Konoha mall and ended up screaming "Stop the car!"

I think that I must have gone slightly overboard because suddenly Naruto pulled in, jerking us all forward, before saying, "What the fuck! What's wrong?"

Quickly unbuckling my seatbelt, I said, "Erm, nothing, I just, er, remembered that it's my friend's birthday in two days and I really need to buy her a gift. Right now."

I opened the door and slid out. "See you all later! I'll make my own way home. Bye." Then I slammed the door shut and hurried off.

It was a massive mall but fortunately Sasori is quite tall and I spotted him easily going into a book store. I walked over to him, taking in a deep breath to steady myself, as I stood closely by him next to the magazine stand. I picked up a magazine and pretended to be engrossed in it, and to my joy he noticed me straight away and said "Hi Sakura."

I flushed with the pleasure of hearing his voice again. It was a lovely voice, smooth and rich, not harsh or strident like most teachers in our school. I turned to look at him and his warm caramel eyes that were gazing into mine. I said, "Hi, Mr Sasori."

He smiled at me then glanced down at my magazine. "I didn't know you were interested in knitting for babies."

I blushed. "Erm, no, I was just, er, browsing." I put down the magazine back in its place on the shelf and picked one from the stand opposite that had a picture of a woman as the cover. "This is more my thing," I told him.

I thought that it 'Vogue' or something, but, oh no, flicking through it open I could see that the photographs were much more explicit than what I had first thought. It was in fact a men's porn magazine. I threw it back, my face now probably as red as Karin's after the tennis game earlier. But instead of glaring at me, reprimanding me, or judging me, Mr Sasori merely smiled at me again and said "Your taste in in reading material is a bit more eclectic than I'd thought Sakura."

I found myself not embarrassed anymore, but smiling back and sharing his joke with him. He chatted with me for a while about mundane stuff like the weather and if I'd had a good holiday so far, but even an ordinary conversation with him seemed intimate and exciting. All too soon though, he excused himself, saying he was going to go now. I thought it would look a bit too obvious if I had followed him straight away, so I said that I would just finish looking around here and go through the book department before I also left. I gave it exactly ten minutes, and then decided to go out and look for him. It took me another ten minutes to actually find him, and when I did I found that he was actually inside a male-undergarments selling store.

I decided that it would look stalker-ish and strange if I entered the store as well, so I entered the shop right across it that was selling perfumes and all sorts of scented candles, body washes and bath bombs. I pretended that I was displeased with the aromas in front me, although they smelled amazing, as I looked at Mr Sasori through the window. The lady owning the store seemed to be slightly annoyed at the fact that I happened to be lingering in her store for no reason whatsoever, so I was thankful when I saw Mr Sasori leave the shop and decided to make my leave as well. I made it look like as if we had just happened to run into each other again.

He stopped when he saw me again and smiled. "Oh, hi again Sakura. Not found anything you liked in that book store?" He said when he noticed that I was empty handed. I silently cursed myself for being so careless, but was glad that he hadn't realised what was actually happening. I gazed at him and reddened. I definitely found something that I had liked in that book store, but it wasn't a book. It was him. If only we could talk openly about how we felt, instead of talking about books like we were right now.

"Ah, no not really. I thought that I'd have a look around the other stores to see if there was anything other than books that caught my eye, but I still haven't found anything." I looked down at the bags in his hand, trying to make it look like I did not know what their contents were. "But I see you've done some shopping. Did you find anything that you liked?"

He smiled lightly again and said, "Actually I found this wonderful book on string puppet mastery, and I think that it would be a great thing to teach you guys when we come back after the holidays. But this bag has nothing to do with books; it's more like my new boxers."

"I think that it's an excellent idea Mr Sasori! And I'll support you all the way. Oh and every one goes underwear shopping every now and then. What colour are they?"

I mentally slapped myself. What was I blabbering about! Going on about the colour of his boxers! God, he must really think that I was an idiot.

He laughed. "Well some are white and some are blue but most of them are black."

"Good choice; black is a really hard colour to get dirty." I flushed in mortification. What was I thinking!? I needed to sort this out! "Not that I'm saying you get your underwear dirty or anything, it's just that, what I mean is-"

Mr Sasori laughed again. "You really are a strange girl Sakura. I'm glad that you're able to talk to express your opinions to me so openly. It's a nice change from the rest of my students who decide to keep to themselves and act all tough and hard."

I paused for a minute. Did he really just say that he wanted to talk to me openly too and that he enjoyed my company? This was so exciting! Of course, I'd have to be really careful with my response. I must make it clear to him that I knew our conversations would have to be strictly platonic for a while since he was still my teacher- and totally secret because of the nasty rumours and gossip that would spread between people about our relationship.

I was still thinking about the wording of my reply when a call from my mobile phone interrupted. I ignored it at first but Mr Sasori probably assumed that I wanted to answer it, because he said "Well, see you later Sakura," then turned around and walked towards the exit of the mall.

Damn. I cursed who ever had called me and took out my phone, checking the caller ID, which was unknown. Whoever it was had just probably ruined the most important moment of the year and also my only chance with Mr Sasori. I punched the answer button, causing a surge of pain to travel through my thumb as it came in contact with the hard touch screen of my phone, and answered crossly, "Yeah, what is it?"

Sasuke said, "Hey, hope you don't mind but you left in a rush and I didn't have time to get your number so I asked Naruto." I was too annoyed to even bother answering to this, so after a long pause Sasuke said, "I'll take your silence to mean that it's okay. The thing is, I really enjoyed this afternoon, and I was wondering that maybe you'd like another tennis lesson? Or maybe you could come over and we could go out for a movie or something?"

I was stunned into silence. What was he saying? Was Sasuke…asking me out? The Sasuke Uchiha who seemed arrogant and did nothing but humiliate me? Asking me, instead of Karin? Could he be serious?

When I didn't reply he started talking again. "Look its fine. I'm not asking you out on a date or anything. It was actually something Naruto had brought up and he said that you would love the idea." He laughed slightly, though it sounded more like a chuckle. "Apparently you don't date right? So, Ok, I thought that maybe we can meet up some time, since I'd like to get to know a couple of people better. What do you say?"

I said suspiciously, "So, you want to teach me tennis, or meet up with me for a movie, because Naruto said so, but it's not a date and it's just you and me?"

"Well, yeah, but you know, I'd like to get to know a couple more people, so if it'd make you feel more comfortable, you can bring a couple of friends over , or your sister maybe. Naruto said that he would be there as well. Whatever, it's fine."

Ah ha! So that's what it is! He wasn't confident enough to ask Karin outright so he was using the 'pretend friendliness with the not-so-sexy sister' technique. Yeah right. It might not have been quite so bad at tennis, but like I'd really wanted another lesson on working on my 'fatness'. Sorry I meant fitness. And I wondered what the movie would be about. Probably some movie about a proud, rich stuck up guy who got all the girls he wanted and ended up with the hot blonde one in the end.

I didn't say this to him of course-my Mum would have had a fit if she's heard I'd been this rude to my Dad's boss's son, so instead I just had to content myself by replying, "Sorry, I'm busy this week and I'll probably be busy for quite a while actually. Call Karin, see what she says, she has more male friends than me any ways."

Then I hung up. I hoped that this would be the last I would be hearing from Sasuke.

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_I made this chapter longer than the first chapter because I think that the other one was too brief and not good enough to attract more readers. But to everyone that has stuck with this story so far and is reviewing, following/favouriting, a massive thank you goes to you! Im grateful for everyone's comments, whether they are anonymous or not._

_Now some of you may be thinking that Sasuke is a little bit out of character-this is honestly because this is only the start of the story and I don't want him to look arrogant and moody at Sakura for no reason. Also, don't forget that Sasuke's parents are alive in this story, and Sasuke originally, before the death of his parents, was a very happy, energetic child. This, however, does not mean that Sasuke is going to be happy and energetic though, it just means that at times he wont seem all dark and moody._

_As for Sakura and her slight obsession with Sasori...well you'll have to wait and see what happens! Lets pray for a quick and soon update from me (If I don't drown in mock GCSE exams that is)_

_Much love_

_Ash_

**_!PLEASE REVIEW/FOLLOW/FAVOURITE!_**


	3. Chapter 3

**In denial because of You**

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_So sorry for the late update but I have been really ill these past few days. Enjoy chapter 3! Inspired by the Book: Jumping to confusions by Liz Rettig._

_DISCLAIMER: I do not own Jumping to confusions or Naruto. All rights are reserved for their rightful owners Liz Rettig and Masashi Kishimoto._

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**Chapter 3: The Party**

"_When you do something noble and beautiful and nobody noticed, do not be sad. For the sun every morning is a beautiful spectacle and yet most of the audience still sleeps."-John Lennon_

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I could have killed Karin. Not only had she decided to completely forgive Sasuke for the whole tennis humiliation, but because of her pestering and demands, he's been over here a few times. Most of the time I tried to avoid him by staying in my room or leaving the house. He would call and usually arrive at about the same time that he has been visiting at for the past week, so I decided to make myself completely 'disappear' and leave the house a good fifteen minutes before he came over.

This time, however, he had thought that it would be a good idea to make his arrival a surprise, and had not called Karin beforehand to tell her that he would be over.

I distinctively remember being in my bed, and through the blankets on my head, hearing a squeal followed by a loud, over exaggerated laugh. Karin. After dragging myself out of bed, not bothering to change my sleeping shorts or tank top, nor look at my extremely wild hair, I had walked all the way down the stairs and followed the noise that seemed to be accumulating from our kitchen. My head was still clouded with sleep, so I was a stumbling mess when I entered the kitchen, sleep in my eyes. That morning, when I had finally opened my eyes properly and took a look around the kitchen, I had the shock of my life. Because sitting on one of the kitchen bar stools, leaning on the counter table, right in the centre of the kitchen, was none other than Sasuke Uchiha.

Sasuke Uchiha was in my kitchen. With my family. Sipping what looked like coffee from my favourite cup. And he was _smirking_ at me. I stared at him, completely dumbfounded. It was so shocking that I didn't know whether to enter the kitchen and act like he wasn't there, or turn around, run up the stairs, and crawl back into my bed. And why, for God's sake, was he always smirking at me like that?! The thought of him laughing inwardly at me because of the way that I looked at the moment and because his visit had taken me by complete surprise annoyed me, and I had ended up glaring at Sasuke.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, still glaring. I admit that it did come out a little ruder than what I had wanted it to be, but I could care less during that moment. I couldn't believe that he was just…well, sitting there.

Mum, however, was having none of it, and she coughed and interrupted the silent war I was having with Sasuke, causing me to blink out of my reverie and stare at her stern face. I knew that she had sensed that something was going on between me and Sasuke, and seeing as how she had warned me and Karin plenty of times before to not show disrespect to our guests, I ended up walking in to the kitchen and sent Sasuke my fakest smile ever.

If he had sensed that it was a fake smile, I would have never known, because he put down his cup of coffee and nonetheless, greeted me with as much politeness and sincerity as the first day that I met him. "Good morning Sakura. Did you have a good sleep?"

Well, if he was trying to act nice and fool the members of my awe-struck family with a few sweet words, it was definitely working on them, but not on me. I mumbled an incoherent reply, one that Mum was clearly displeased with, because for the second time that morning she sent me a death glare, so I ended up putting on an act similar to his and repeated my reply. "Good morning to you too Sasuke. And yes, I had a good sleep, thank you very much."

My gaze had fallen on to Karin, who was seated besides Sasuke, and she was acting so desperately flirtatious that it made me feel sick. It was true, Karin and Sasuke looked really good together and would probably end up being a really good couple, but it didn't mean that I was okay with the way that Karin seemed to instantly lower her status next to him. So much for the rant she had about making sure I didn't look inferior next to Sasuke only a week ago.

It was also then that I realised that Karin was wearing make-up, her hair styled up in a neat pony tail and her clothes suitable for a date. She had known that he was coming and she hadn't bothered telling me! Was Karin also trying to humiliate me on purpose? Were they both in this little game of 'who can make the bigger fool out of Sakura'?

Yet when I looked at Karin again, she seemed like she was genuinely in another world of her own, staring dreamily at Sasuke, and I realised then that Karin hadn't told me unintentionally; she was probably too happy about seeing Sasuke again that she completely forgot, or decided not to bother.

They have been out a few times now, mostly for pizza or to the cinemas. I was surprised when I found out that it was mostly Karin who made these dates. Usually it's the guys who do all the running but she says she thinks Sasuke is just a bit shy with girls. Personally I doubt it. It was true he hadn't been sure about asking her out after the tennis thing, but she'd been in a bad mood at the time. He seems pretty damn confident to me though. Then again, maybe he was different around Karin.

Naruto also seems to have been spending a lot of time with Sasuke, because I've bumped into him twice now over at Naruto's house. I can admit that I've never actually been rude to Sasuke on those occasions, but at the same time I don't go out of my way to be nice to him either. At first I had expected him to be puzzled by my unfriendliness, but instead he seemed to not care at all and merely grunt or nod at my sight. Call me stupid, but since when did the word 'Hn' mean 'hello'? I decided right there and then that he was a total ass and completely full of himself, though looking back now I can say that I may have been the reason as to why he was acting so cold towards me.

Naruto told me privately that Sasuke just puts his attitude up as a mask to hide what he truly is, which is, according to Naruto, a nice guy and not up himself at all. "He's OK Sakura. He wasn't trying to insult you with the fitness-fatness remark. Fitness is important in all sports. Only an appearance obsessed female like you would read anything more into it. You should really give up this stupid notion of you being 'a little overweight' anyway. You're fit and curvy, that's all. Lots of guys like a well-toned, curvy girl!"

"Don't call me curvy. That's just another way of saying fat."

"Shit. Look, you're not fat at all Sakura okay? In fact, you're actually pretty skinny, but in a good, healthy looking way. You don't need to be Karin-slim to not be fat. Most of my friends say that you're not bad at all and would love to get to know you better. You're just a bit odd at times."

"Thanks a lot Naruto."

"Not mental odd!" Naruto explained quickly, "Just a little defensive sometimes and sort of violent at others. I don't meant druggy, but you know, one minute your talking and laughing with some guy and the next you've gone all spacey and he may as well be talking to himself. You must admit you daydream a lot."

And this was supposed to be Naruto's attempt at paying me a compliment! Honestly, why Hinata loves him, I'll never know.

I laughed. "Well, Naruto, I don't know what to say. I'm just totally, erm, overwhelmed by this flattery but I'll try not to let it go to my head."

However, afterwards I did think carefully over what he'd said. (About Sasuke, that is, not his friends comments on my attractiveness.) Perhaps I've been a little unfair on Sasuke. After all, it's not his fault that he's the sexiest male I've ever laid eyes on and is a credit to his parents. He's never experienced the hardships and humiliation someone like me has to go through because her sister has always been the family's pride. Still, I've probably been over-sensitive about his fitness remark. It wouldn't be the first time that I've taken offence about something like this when none had actually been intended.

That, however, didn't explain the fact that he was a total ass to me, nor did it explain the reason to why he always seems to be smirking in triumph in my presence. Was he trying to lead me on or something as a joke? Is that why he always started conversations with me in a nice manner, and just when he had me believing that he was actually pretty nice, struck all of that hope down with some stupid comment that ended up humiliating me?

Because of this, I found it very hard to trust Sasuke and decided that it would be best to act completely distant around him. This was also the reason I was finding it very hard and uncomfortable to be seated in front of him in our kitchen.

The whole family was present, and everyone seemed to be oblivious to my unusual silence. They rambled on about how amazing Sasuke's life must have been; yes travel was very hard but of course he was able to quickly adjust to it, wow he learnt Japanese in Japan? No way, amazing!

It took everything in my will to not just get up and leave the room right there and then. I'd had enough of listening to everyone praise and admire Sasuke like he was some legend. I inwardly sighed in relief when the topic suddenly changed to something other than Sasuke's life.

"So Karin, have you got everything ready for your new school year?" Dad had asked, placing down his newspaper neatly onto the table. I knew why he had directed the question to Karin, and it was because Karin usually left buying all school equipment and attire to the last minute. According to her, school was unimportant and there was no reason to why so much money had to be invested into it.

My mum replied instead of Karin. "Actually dear I was thinking of taking Karin out today and making sure she has her new school uniform and equipment ready."

Karin beamed at my Dad. "See Dad? I have everything prepared and under control. No need to worry."

I rolled my eyes. I knew that smile anywhere, and it was only because Sasuke was present that she was acting all so sickly sweet. It was totally out of her character and made her seem strange, but at the same time it was hilarious seeing her have to go to such extreme measures. She was playing the good-girl act today. I sent a sly smile towards her, and she answered back by sending me a sarcastic smile of her own. It only caused my smile to widen. A sarcastic smile from Karin might as well be a pleading smile; she never does it unless she feels threatened, and she probably thought that I was going to blab her secret out.

"Well If I were you sweetheart then I'd get going now; stores aren't going to be open all day you know and knowing the amount of shopping you're going to be doing I'd be glad if you got it all done today."

Finally Sasuke got up and excused himself from the table. When Karin had asked him where he was going, he merely looked at my parents and thanked them. "Thank you for inviting me over for breakfast Mr and Mrs Haruno, it was enjoyable. You'll have to come over sometime. But I know that you're going to be quite busy today and so am I so I think that it would be best if I got going now."

Karin had pleaded with him to stay for a little longer, but he politely refused her offer and it wasn't long before Karin was walking him to our front door. I didn't bother following after them, they'd probably be giving each other goodbye kisses and frankly I'd rather not be there to view it happen.

Before he had walked out of the kitchen, however, he had made eye contact with me, and I don't know why, but it felt like for that split second, he was waiting for me to say something. It felt…odd and different coming from Sasuke and I was left confused. I didn't want to dwell on it though, but since it happened in such a quick time that the thought of me imagining it all was highly likely.

I resolved to be nicer to Sasuke now though, especially as it looked like he was going to be important to Karin, and, according to Dad, around for some time. Sasuke's parents are thinking of sending him to our school. At first, the information had taken me by surprise and I wasn't fond of the idea at all, but then again it kind of made sense seeing as how Valley End High was one of the best schools in Konoha, and Uchiha Sasuke deserved the best-note sarcasm. This is good news for us, apparently, since it means that Mr Fugaku is intending on staying in Konoha for a long while, meaning he isn't just some hatchet man, here to wind up the company and sell it to one of his other departments.

So when Sasuke called around again unexpectedly later on today I was quite surprised to see him but made sure I wasn't rude to him. I told him that Karin was still out with Mum shopping and wouldn't be back for at least another hour but he asked if he could come in anyway as he had something he wanted to talk to me about. Naruto followed in after him, just managing to sneak in as I was shutting the door, and I had to stop myself from shrieking by covering my mouth.

"Naruto, you idiot! I nearly had a heart attack because of you! Don't ever scare me like that again by entering the house while I'm trying to close the door!" I said, slapping his arm.

Naruto smiled sheepishly at me and rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry, thought I'd make it a surprise. Anyways, aren't you glad to see me again?"

"Yeah well it was definitely a surprise. And don't try and sweet talk your way out of this!"

I ushered them into the living room, where we sat opposite each other on separate couches, Naruto and Sasuke beside each other.

Naruto explained to me that Sasuke's dad had definitely decided to send him to our school since it offered the international baccalaureate and was of good status, which Sasuke could use as a great reference. Then he said, "I think that it'd be a great idea for Sasuke to meet more students before the start of term. You know, seeing as he is the new kid in town, the more people he gets to know the better. We were thinking of throwing a party over at his place next Saturday and I was kind of hoping you'd help us with the invites and arrangements. I told Sasuke to talk to you a couple of days ago but he told me that you'd told him you were busy, so Im wondering if you're free now."

I bit my lower lip in slight guilt and I felt heat rise to my cheeks. Oh God, I hope it wasn't noticeable. So maybe the whole thing about Sasuke wanting to meet more people was true, and the fact that I had literally shut the phone in his face made me feel really bad right now. I can't believe I had been that rude to him! No wonder he thought that I was some weirdo! Sasuke must have noticed my unusual behaviour because he sent me this knowing look, one that clearly said 'I know you lied to me.' Oh God, now I really felt like shit.

I tried to distract my mind by thinking about Naruto's offer. Yeah, a party would be great. The long holidays were getting boring and it would help flavour things up before school starts, and get my mind of Sasori. Also, Tenten and Temari, my two other best friends, have been moaning about never meeting any decent-looking guys. Maybe I could set them up with someone at the party. Naruto had told me before that Sasuke's place was huge so we'd be able to invite a ton of people.

"Are your parents going to be there?" I asked Sasuke, stupidly. Okay, it wasn't the smartest thing to ask, but still, I was curious, and I really didn't know what to say.

He shook his head. "No, they'll be out for the night."

Naruto eagerly interrupted. "And get this Sakura, they've promised not to come home until three in the morning. How amazing are they!"

I stared at Sasuke in disbelief. Were his parents serious? "Is this true?" I asked him.

"Yeah, they said they wouldn't be there unless needed. And," – he smirked - "I definitely don't think we're going to need them."

I blushed furiously and looked away from Sasuke. Why did he always have to smirk like that? And what did he mean by that last sentence? It almost seemed like he was trying to hint at something and it only caused me to blush even more in shame. I ended up having to cough in order to get rid of the awkwardness between us. "Erm, cool. That sounds great." I said after a while. Then I grinned at Naruto. "Im pretty sure we can cope without them if Naruto promises to stay in good behaviour throughout the night. Of course I'd be happy to help you organize the party and I'm sure Karin will too."

Soon I was happily texting and phoning everyone to spread the news and make a list of stuff we'd need. Naruto suggested a barbeque but I told him that the chance of people wanting to eat meaty snacks at seven in the evening was unlikely. Plus we'd also have to take a rain check.

Sasuke almost seemed to be amused by my enthusiasm; I could tell by the way his eyes glinted humorously every time I caught him looking at me and by the subtle raise of his eyebrows. But then he returned back to his usual stoic self, all interest lost, as if though he could care less. But I wasn't about to let his strangely displeasing attitude dampen my mood.

At least he let me make decisions about music, numbers, start times etc. It was so exciting getting to organize things. I prattled on about who I planned to invite: there was Ino of course, plus Hinata, Tenten and Temari. I wanted to ask Gaara, but then there would be a problem between Matsuri and Sari who both had an obvious crush on the guy. Maybe I could set one of them up with Lee? That way he'd stop chasing after me! I'd have to ask Tenten for who she thought would suit him best, since she and Lee are pretty close friends, but she'd probably end up sending me to Neji for more advice.

Sasuke had been listening patiently to me but interrupted to ask, "You seem to enjoy playing matchmaker on everyone except yourself, though it doesn't look like you have anyone in mind for yourself."

I was slightly surprised and taken aback by Sasuke's inquiry on my personal love life. Though it was embarrassing that I was caught red handed trying to set up my friends, it still shocked me that Sasuke actually seemed interested in my life. Then again, maybe he was just trying to use my single status as a way to humiliate me.

"Like I said, Sakura's just not dating at the moment. Bushy-brows Lee seems to have an obvious thing for her."

Not dating at the moment? God, Naruto had been diplomatic for once! The nearest thing I'd had to a date was when Lee got seriously drunk at the school Christmas party last year and tried to kiss me and I was saved by a fake snog from Idate Morino. Idate isn't ugly at all, in fact he's pretty good looking and is quite the charmer, but everyone is dead scared of him since his brother is Ibiki Morino, head of the criminal interrogation squad. They say that he could get you to admit to your darkest secrets with just one look, and that everyone who had left his interrogations seems to have been scarred, except he wouldn't have laid a single finger on them. Something to do with mental manipulation. Idate is nice though and me and him are still friends (mostly due to his strong friendship with Naruto), but he's not the special someone. Not like Sasori.

As always, I smiled at the thought of Sasori. At last, I finally had someone wonderful in my life to depend on, even if we couldn't be together yet. Aloud, I said dreamily, "Actually, there is someone, but, erm, he won't be able to make it to the party."

I don't know why, but it was as if Sasuke seemed to have gotten annoyed all of a sudden. "Pity he can't be there." He added dryly.

I glared. "What's that supposed to mean?" I asked him, in a not-so-friendly voice too.

"Nothing. Just that he's a lucky guy." He said. Then he got up. "Im gonna go now. We'll talk about all of this later. You know what you're doing."

I instantly realised my mistake. Maybe I'd been a bit too rude to Sasuke, and now he was really pissed off. Oh God, if Karin found out I drove away Sasuke then she'd kill me! "Wait! Don't go yet!"

Both Naruto and Sasuke seemed to be somewhat taken aback by my sudden outburst, since Naruto stared at me with a puzzled face and Sasuke had stopped walking and looked at me.

"I, er, Karin is going to be here soon!" I quickly added.

Naruto groaned. "Well in that case I better get going as well. Come on Teme, I'll be waiting for you in the car. See ya Sakura!" He stood up and patted Sasuke on the back as he walked out of the room.

I was left in the room by myself and Sasuke for company. There was an awkward silence between us, an unpleasant awkward silence.

"Thanks. For helping out, that is."

He was the first to break the silence, and I found myself questioning his words. Did Sasuke Uchiha…just sincerely say 'Thanks' to me…for helping him? I realised that he was still waiting for a response from me, so in order not to make myself look ruder in his eyes, I smiled up at him and replied. "You're welcome. And you can come and ask for my help any time."

I took his grunt as one of acknowledgement, but after that he surprised me by running a hand through his hair. He seemed frustrated as he looked back at me. Why, I didn't know, but it annoyed the hell out of me. Why was he so bi-polar?

"I really gotta go. I've got stuff do."

I watched his retreating back leave the room, and heard the soft click of the front door as it shut. After he'd left, I started to worry about what I'd told him. Of course, I hadn't given him any clues as to who my 'secret someone' was, nor had I insulted Sasuke in any way shape or form. Still, it was dangerous to mention Sasori at all, and I also had to choose what to say around Sasuke carefully; the guy seemed to get touchy over the smallest things and I didn't want to be the reason that him and Karin don't work out in the end. I mustn't be so indiscreet again. It was so hard though, keeping my feelings secrets.

When Karin came back she was annoyed that she had missed Sasuke's visit, much to her dismay about Naruto tagging along too, though she was excited about the party and looking forward to seeing Sasuke's place. This last piece of information surprised me. I'd thought that she'd already seen it, but it didn't seem like she had.

"I've only seen the outside of his house so far Saks, but it's enormous! Must have cost a fortune to buy, but then again his family are rich. Are you sure that his parents aren't going to be there?"

"Yeah, they're not due back till three in the morning."

"Great. Maybe I'll be able to tempt Sasuke away from his party host duties for a while and spend some private time alone with him."

She giggled, then leaned close to me. "You know, Sasuke is different from most guys I've been out with. Can you believe he hasn't even kissed me yet?"

That information had actually shocked me. No way! Every single guy that Karin had been out with would have kissed her on the first date, never mind 10th! "Really?"

She nodded. "He's such a gentleman. Makes a change from the usual idiots I meet, who always start trying to get in my pants on the first date. Still, I've decided he's been a gentleman long enough. It's time he got his reward."

Well, she definitely sounded keen, and I wondered how far she intended to go with Sasuke at the party. Unlike me, Karin isn't a virgin, but she isn't a slapper either and has only had sex with a few of the hundred guys she's been out with. Ino says that this definitely makes her a slut and that she only goes for guys with money but I think that Ino is being slightly unfair. Karin just like guys who are a bit classy, that's all. I suppose Sasuke would be one of the ones she'd sleep with, so I just hoped she wouldn't dump him afterwards, which she'd done before. Especially not with Sasuke's dad being our dad's boss. It was highly unlikely though; a girl would be crazy to leave Sasuke if she ever had the chance to get him. And even if Karin did eventually, then what would Sasuke do? Tell his dad to fire ours because Karin wouldn't sleep with him? I highly doubted that.

* * *

The next few days were spent busy with arrangements. Lots of the girls that I had invited were keen to know about Sasuke so were disappointed when I told them that he'd already been taken by Karin. However, that didn't put them off the party; only get them more excited actually as they all wanted to see the guy that had interested Karin. By the time me and Naruto had finished, fifty six people were definitely coming, with seventeen being unsure due to parents. Sasuke said that it doesn't matter if they come without a notice on the last day; the house was big enough for a hundred people to all be in at once.

Karin had asked me to help her choose which outfit she should wear on the afternoon of the party. Since there was a fancy dress theme though, she was extra fussed about what to wear. She often does this- she's told me that I've got good taste and she doesn't trust anyone else to give her unbiased advice. She tried on loads of different things and they all looked fantastic on her, but she still wasn't satisfied, said she was going for the sexy seductive look tonight and wanted to pick the perfect outfit.

I suggested she wore her short red dress and open toe heels since red looked best on her, and after rummaging around her wardrobe for a bit, we thankfully found some horns, a tail and a fork that were last in use two years ago during the Halloween party. Yes, Karin was going to go to the party as a she-devil. I didn't know whether to be proud of my amazing work or envious. My sister looked amazing and she was probably going to get every single guy in the room ogling all over her, while I stayed the plain, ugly sister.

After finally making sure that Karin could be left alone to do her hair, I went downstairs to let Ino in-she was coming to the party with us. We greeted each other with a hug as always, except this time I ended up stepping back and admiring Ino's outfit. She'd come in as a nurse, but her outfit didn't look like it belonged in a hospital.

"You like it?" She asked, wagging her eyebrows up and down.

"Love it actually. But I don't think you'll be mending any hearts today Nurse Ino." I said, and she laughed.

"I wasn't intending to. I'm ready to break a few today. I'm not your typical nurse you see." She winked.

I rolled my eyes at her usual behaviour. Ino never changed. I caught her frowning at me though, which in turn caused me to frown as well. "Erm, Ino, why are you looking at me like that?"

"Forehead, please tell me that _this_," she pointed at my attire, "is not your outfit for tonight."

Oh. Now I knew why she was looking at me like that. "Don't worry it's not what Im wearing today. But I'm having trouble picking my outfit. I have nothing fancy dress."

"Oh please, with me helping you then we're bound to come up with a great costume."

It was obvious that Ino was excited about this too, especially as Sai would be there. Sai is nearly 6ft, and to Ino's appeal, is a sexy artistic guy who thinks that Ino is beautiful and that I am an old hag. He's good looking, with dark black hair and unusually pale skin, and jet black eyes. Strangely, now that I think about it, he bears a freaky resemblance to Sasuke. Hmm, I'll have to compare the two at the party. We've only known Sai for a year now though, since he's new. At first, he seemed unapproachable and full of himself, but after getting to know him in art class, we came to realise that he found it difficult to talk to people since he doesn't understand emotions and what friendship means. Obviously, it had been Naruto who'd opened him up for the whole school and soon everyone was talking to Sai. Though I consider Sai one of my close friends, it still doesn't mean that I don't get annoyed when he calls me ugly.

Ino squealed. "He's hot and talented, Sakura! Imagine that! A hot guy who's free!"

I didn't want to dampen Ino's plans but I was a bit concerned. I knew Sai very well, and even though he practically called Ino 'beautiful' like it was her name, I still wasn't sure of his true feelings towards her. Sai never actually seemed to be interested in any girl, and he had made countless remarks on how small Naruto's…you know what I mean. I was afraid that he'd turn out to be gay and literally crush Ino's dreams. I tried to hint this to Ino, but she wouldn't listen. She thought it was me hating on him because he called me 'ugly' every time he sees me.

With Ino's help, I was actually able to put together an outfit that not only worked, but looked great on me too. I couldn't help but admire my reflection as I spun lightly in my 'Alice in Wonderland' costume. The blue dress was not too short, and flared out after passing my waist. We'd found a white bow somewhere and a few white laced material, which we'd sown on in order for it to look like it belonged to Alice. Ino also helped me with my hair tonight so that the ends were curly and placed a small black bow on my head to complete the image. Yep, I didn't look bad at all.

Just then Karin came into the room, stood beside me in the mirror and said, "You look great Sakura."

I know she meant to be kind, but comparing our two reflections, I instantly felt like the boring version of Karin. If she was a colour, she would be red; sexy, seductive and mature, just what every guy wants. Me? I'd be pink. A washed out, plain colour next to Karin. I hated it, but as always, I couldn't say anything. Why would I? It would just make me sound jealous and end up making Karin hate me.

Ino frowned at Karin and asked in a none-too-friendly voice what she wanted now. I do wish my friends would be a little bit nicer to Karin but I've had to settle for frosty politeness.

Karin just smiled at Ino and said, "Oh nothing, just came to see what you two were up to. You look nice too Ino. What look were you hoping to go for? Slutty hospital nurse?"

Ino scowled at the word 'slutty' and looked like she was about to do more than just argue but Karin walked to the door and, still smiling, said 'See you there.'

Ino was furious. "She does it deliberately Sakura. She knows I hate her fucking guts and that's why she tries to get on my nerves."

I tried to calm her. This time, I really couldn't disagree with Ino. It was true, Karin had been really harsh, but I didn't want a war to happen between the two before the party had even started. "No, Ino, I think you're wrong about Karin. You're really pretty and you're just naturally having that seductive look to you and I think she was genuinely impressed. Im sure she meant it as a compliment."

Ino laughed bitterly. "That's bullshit and you know it! Why are you always trying to defend her?"

"She's my-"

"You're not even biological sisters for God's sake! Yeah, you grew up together, but even then Sakura, there are limits. Admit it! You just can't bring yourself around the fact that Karin is actually a spoiled, selfish bit-"

"That's enough Ino! I don't want to hear anymore."

We were silent for a while, both of us annoyed, though Ino's reason was more understandable. She sighed and swept her fringe to the side. "Look, I'm sorry. Just forget that this ever happened."

I bit my lower lip in guilt. "No, you're right Ino. Karin can be spoiled at times and today was definitely one of those times. Im sorry because she's upset you."

"Don't worry about it. It's not like this is your fault; I feel sorry for you for having someone like Karin around you all the time. I just don't want us to fall out about her, so let's drop it, ok?"

I nodded my head and agreement, and we ended up hugging each other in apology. Ino chatted on about the party, seemingly going back to her usual self, though I wasn't really paying much attention- my mind couldn't help but wander back to that awful time where Karin got bullied in school.

While I used to be bullied by the other kids for my large forehead, it soon stopped due to Ino sticking up for me and becoming my friend. We were out on a school trip, and back then I was only seven years old so I was naïve and I just wanted to fit in with the other kids. A bunch of girls, Ami, Fuki and Kasumi, had approached me and circled me while I was doing some flower arranging.

Ami had said, "Forehead Girl. You look like you are having fun today. You're trying to make yourself look better recently!"

I was scared and I didn't know what their motives were so I had just said, "Thank you." They'd sniggered and then told me that if I picked a certain flower for them that grew on top of this really high, rocky hill, they'd accept me into their friendship group.

Thankfully, Ino had intervened before I could even reply and told them not to be so stupid; the flower would take hours to reach and that they should do their own work. Of course, Ami was having none of it, and had settled on calling Ino ugly and was about to shove her backwards, but Ino merely tripped her up and then thrust a bunch of grass in her open mouth. "A cow like you is only allowed to open her mouth when she wants to eat." After that, Ami and her gang never dared bother me again, and I was grateful for Ino's help.

Karin, on the other hand, was bullied by the girls for being the only one to wear glasses, even though I knew they did it because they were jealous that she got a lot of male attention. While the girls eventually stopped calling me names, they never let up on Karin. It didn't bother her and she never seemed to care, but even some of the kids who had been okay with her started talking about her behind her back, saying she was 'full of herself.'

One day, instead of waiting with Karin outside of school for Dad to pick us, I had already planned to go home with Ino to her house. That was the day a crowd of girls surrounded Karin. First they called her horrible names, then they kicked, punched and even drenched her with water from their bottles. They were awful.

My parents were furious and complained to the school, demanding that everyone responsible should be punished. Of course the girls had lied and said that Karin had called them 'ugly jealous trash' so she'd had it coming. Mum and Dad didn't blame me for what happened, but I did. I knew I should have been there to stand up or her. I vowed then that I'd look after her and never let anyone hurt her ever again. I've kept my promise too, even though it's been difficult at times. Like when she's so freaking insensitive around my friends.

Ino interrupted my thoughts. "Come on Sakura; it's a party we're going to, not a funeral. Look, I've got just the thing to set us in the mood." She rummaged in the bag she had brought with her and pulled out half a bottle of vodka. I blanched. This was her idea of 'getting us in the right mood'? Ino seemed to notice my grim expression, but she merely dismissed it with a wave of her hand. "Oh don't look at me like that Sak, it's just a couple of drops into some coke, no one will notice. Now be a babe and sneak us some glasses and a bottle of coke from the kitchen."

She placed her iPod into my docking station, blasting her music up to full volume. Despite the fact that my parents were always working, my dad more than my mum, their jobs meant money that practically showered me and Karin with new, modern goods, not to mention the endless shopping sprees, which meant that in all honesty, I couldn't complain about their work hours.

I found myself following Ino's orders, though I contemplated the thought of drinking myself. Though it wouldn't have been the first time I've drank something alcoholic, the taste and smell never actually appealed to me and because of that I left drinking for necessary occasions only.

I hurried down the stairs to fetch the glasses and then the Coke. On my way back though, I bumped into my mum as I was coming out of the kitchen.

"What's that?" she asked in a disapproving tone while eying the Coke bottle.

I felt like a crime suspect who had just been caught by a police officer. Oh God, don't tell me she'd sussed I was sneaking this upstairs to mix with alcohol. "Nothing, Mum. I mean, erm, Coke. It's for me and Ino."

"Coke right before a party sweetheart? Won't you be drinking a lot at the party anyway?"

I nodded. "Yeah, but it'll be, you know, juice and fizzy drinks, nothing alcoholic. Sasuke's parents are making sure of it." I lied.

Mum's face contorted at the mention of alcohol. "God I hope so! I trust you and your sister well enough to let you go on this party by yourselves, especially since it's a request from Sasuke himself. Just watch yourself and Karin tonight alright?" She planted a kiss on my forehead and smiled at me, but not before eyeing my normal coke bottle as though it was a giant turd or something. "That thing is loaded with calories. If you want, there's some Diet Coke in the fridge. I mean, unless you're absolutely certain that the calorie-loaded sort is what you prefer-"

"No, mum, you're right, good point." I interrupted, relieved that she'd finally stopped rambling about calories, then hurried back to fetch the Diet Coke. Honestly, sometimes I wondered whether my mum would ever get over her calorie checking obsession.

Ino's suggestion had worked on her and by the time that she had drunk her glass of vodka and Coke, she was dancing around like a lunatic and had persuaded me to join along, so we ended up giggling and in a great mood.

Naruto came over to pick us up. He'd already been to Sasuke's place, helping to set up things, though Sasuke had said that the maids would be preparing everything already. Since the barbeque option had been out of hand, Sasuke's parents had paid a catering firm to provide all the food and soft drinks so that we wouldn't just have alcohol- not that this was mentioned by Sasuke's parents of course.

Karin didn't come with us, saying she had things too first, but I knew it was because she wanted to make Sasuke keener by keeping him waiting her to arrive. These were little techniques she had once said I should learn for when I finally started dating, but I always brushed them aside. However, she did ask me to make sure that no one else got their hands on him before she got there. I agreed, although how I was going to do this I wasn't quite sure. I'd never been anyone's chaperone before.

Just before we left, Karin pulled me aside and reminded me of my promise. "Look after Sasuke for me, Sakura. There are bound to be a bunch of girls there who are just dying to hit on him. Make sure they don't get anywhere with him."

"Well Karin, if you're that worried, why don't you just come and look after him yourself?"

"Im not that worried. Im just being careful. Anyways, you know I like to keep my guys waiting; gets them keener, you know?"

No, I didn't know, but I found myself reluctantly agreeing. "Ok, I'll do my best. But there are limits. What am I supposed to do? Tie him up with duct tape and put a gag in his mouth and throw him in the basement? It's his party after all and he did say that he wanted to know more people. Circulate."

"Well he can circulate all he likes with guys, but if you see any nice-looking girls around him, warn them off and pull him away to your side." She smiled at me. "You can be the duct tape. Stick to him all night until I get there."

I got slightly annoyed with the thought of being with Sasuke all night. If he and I had some sort of mutual friendship, then the idea wouldn't seem so bad. I decided to mention this to Karin. "What if he doesn't want me sticking to him?"

"He will. He likes you. Said so himself."

I was taken aback by this new piece of information. Sasuke said that he likes me? To Karin? "He…he said that to you?"

"Well, not in those words but it something along those lines. Anyway, I know Sasuke well enough now to know that he enjoys your company. He seems interested when you're around."

Naruto and Ino were already at the door and were growing impatient. ""Oh. Well, alright then." I told her, though I didn't sound so sure of myself.

"Thanks Sakura. I knew I could count on you. Now remember, don't let him out of your sight. Promise?"

"I promise."

I had a feeling that, before the night was over, it would be a promise I was going to regret.

* * *

I was surprised to find Hinata stood outside of Naruto's car, her hands wrapped protectively around her bare chest as she tried to cover up some her exposed skin. She looked stunning in her sexy maid get up, innocent and seductive at the same time, and I couldn't help but admire her perfect figure.

Ino rushed up to her and squeezed Hinata into a hug, smiling approvingly at her choice of clothes. "Hinata! You finally got brave and decided to show some of those amazing breasts for once!"

It was obvious that, even in the dark, Hinata's face had gone a shade similar to Karin's hair and she stuttered an incoherent reply to Ino's loud outburst. I felt sorry for the girl; I knew that it must have been embarrassing for her, especially since this was something she had obviously never done before in her life. Hinata was always the shy, quiet girl in our friendship group and she preferred to be someone in the background then in the limelight.

I smiled at Hinata before pulling Ino away. "Forget Ino, Hinata. I think you look amazing."

"Hey, who said I didn't think she looked amazing?" Ino retorted. Then she looked over at Naruto. "And I bet Naruto here thinks that Hinata looks amazing too. Don't you Naruto?" She taunted, winking playfully at him.

Naruto coughed in embarrassment and I ended up having to slap Ino's arm in warning. Sometimes, she really did fit the stereotype of 'stupid blonde'.

We later found out that Naruto had offered Hinata a ride to Sasuke's, and he must of told her that we would be getting a lift as well, since I'm sure that she'd never have agreed if it was just her and him alone in the car. Hinata got way too flustered around Naruto and she usually never speaks a word to him without stuttering unless someone else was involved in the conversation.

Ino suggested slyly that Hinata sit at the front so that she'd have more room for her legs and short, layered dress.

Hinata really had no choice since Ino decided to push me into the back of the car and sat beside me, leaving Hinata to the front. Hinata hesitantly agreed and said, "O-ok, thank you for your c-consideration Ino."

Naruto had made it seem like it didn't bother him and mumbled, "Ah, okay, whatever suits you best." I could tell that he was really happy though, since his eyes lit up and he grinned happily at Hinata as he sat into the driver's seat.

He started the car and moved to the gear, but his hand accidently brushed against Hinata's thigh and both flinched at the sudden contact of skin. They tried to act like it never happened as Naruto muttered "Sorry that was an accident."

But Ino giggled audibly in the background as she wagged her eyebrows in suggestion, as if to say 'Isn't this best plan ever?' She waited until Naruto started driving before she leaned closer to me and whispered in my ear. "Accidently my arse. I bet he touched her thigh on purpose!"

I rolled my eyes mechanically at Ino's usual behaviour. It was so expected of her that nothing ever surprised me anymore.

It took about 10 minutes to get to Sasuke's, and I was thankful since although the drive had not been silent, it was still awkward. The house was huge, especially for just three people, with a long driveway surrounded by perfectly cut grass and flower filled bushes that led to two granite pillars. The large, three storey house stood proudly in the background, adorned by a beautiful wide-spread garden that was dotted with flowers around the edges. Two, light fountains stood symmetrically opposite each other, causing the water sprouting out to seem as if it was changing colour.

Quite a lot of people were already there, chatting by the fountains and waiting for friends, while loud music played from the inside, sending vibrations through the earth. As we walked closer to the house, it was obvious everyone was having the time of their lives inside since laughter and screaming could be heard above the noise of the music. Lights were dotted all around the house, lighting up the night in bright, neon colours and I was thankful that Sasuke's house was at least a good two minutes' walk away from the other houses; I didn't want any complaints from angry neighbours and mishaps that led to police officers knocking on the door.

The house was just as beautiful and grand on the inside as it was on the outside and I had to stop myself from throwing my jaw open.

"Wow…" Ino sighed dreamily, and I couldn't help but mimic her expression as we both eyed the inside of the house with adoration.

Naruto grinned at us. "See? I told you his place was huge, kind of similar to yours Hinata."

Hinata blushed, but it wasn't so obvious because of the dark room and different coloured lights flashing across her face. "Y-yeah, Sasuke's place looks similar to mine."

"Yeah, except your place is much more traditional, like a fairy-tale palace!" Ino added, and then suddenly gasped. "Oh my god I see Sai!"

It had taken me by complete surprise and I resisted the urge to hit Ino for scaring me with her gasp. I'd thought that something had happened to her or that she'd seen something worrying, but obviously she had seen Sai.

She instantly made a bee-line to him, pushing her way through the crowds of dancing people and earning a couple of glares from the girls and wolf whistles from the guys. I sighed again at Ino's usual and unchangeable character; this girl would never learn.

"You know as much as I hate how annoying Ino can be at times, I have to say at least that girl has courage to approach Sai, unlike some people here." Naruto said, his gaze landing on to me as he finished the sentence.

I gulped. Oh no, did Naruto out of all people know my secret crush? I decided to act as if though his sentence hadn't fazed me as I turned around to face him. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Oh don't try and fool me by that innocent look of yours Sakura. You said yourself that you had your eye on someone! And you never had your eyes on anyone before until a certain someone came."

My eyes widened as I blushed furiously. "Wait, you think I like Sasuke?" I asked him incredulously. Naruto looked away and I knew that my suspicions were true. "How-Oh my God!" I was speechless. I couldn't believe that Naruto thought I had the hots for Sasuke! "I don't like Sasuke! He's Karin's guy, not mine! I could never do that to her."

Naruto ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah well Im pretty sure Karin would and she wouldn't think twice about it too. Look, forget it; I just thought maybe you liked him or something. Let's leave this and have fun, okay?"

I glared at Naruto. I was about scold him for talking about Karin like that when another thought popped into my mind. "Well Naruto, I think you should worry about admitting to your own feelings before giving me a lesson on mine." I eyed him and then Hinata, and both seemed to get the hint on what I was talking about.

Hinata blushed furiously and nothing, not even the dark, could hide the fact that she had gone tomato red, while Naruto merely looked shocked. "I don't know what you're talking about."

I rolled my eyes but nonetheless smiled at the two. "Between us three, you both know what Im talking about. Now how about you show your two favourite ladies around this place Naruto."

Naruto grinned, quickly forgetting about his earlier humiliation as he swung one arm around my shoulder and the other around Hinata's, before steering us towards the kitchen for a drink. "So what do you think of the house? Great place for a party isn't it?"

I nodded. "Yeah, amazing, big with high ceilinged walls. And great floors as well."

"What?" He asked me, one eye brow raised.

"Well, they're nearly all granite aren't they? Since the rugs have been taken away, they're fantastic surfaces for people to spill drinks or to be sick on- they'll get cleaned up, no problem, and Sasuke's parents would have never known."

Naruto laughed. "You know Sakura? I was wrong about you. You are a naturally born romantic."

Despite the fact that the kitchen was massive, it was still crowded, and I started to wonder whether there were more than seventy people at this party. I spotted Sasuke, who was drinking what looked like Kamikaze and lime and talking to two really attractive girls that I had never seen before. Damn. Who invited them anyway? It must have been one of Naruto's friends, probably Kiba. Sasuke saw us as well and waved us over. He offered Naruto a glass of wine, though Naruto refused. When he looked surprised, Naruto merely muttered the word 'driving' to him and took a bottle of coke instead.

Hinata and I accepted the wine while the two girls by Sasuke eyed Naruto appreciatively. After Hinata and Sasuke were introduced, one of the girls, tall and brunette, asked "And who's this sexy fox?"

Naruto smiled sheepishly at the girl, causing the fake whiskers drawn on his face to stretch along with his smile. Yes, Naruto had actually come in as a fox. He wore an orange mask over his eyes and two fox ears were placed on top of his head. Along with this, he had on a furry orange and white t-shirt, orange combats and black boots.

I was grateful when someone had called him over to see something, because the girls stopped eying Naruto as soon as he held onto Hinata's hand and went over to see what was happening.

Ignoring the girls, I said pointedly, "Sasuke, your house is great! Karin asked me to tell you that she'll be along soon. So how was the movie you both went to see on Wednesday? I heard it was great."

Sasuke seemed to notice that I was acting unusually, since I hardly ever talked to him and now I was acting like we were best friends, but I didn't care and continued to prattle on about him and Karin, making absolutely clear to the two girls that he and my sister were dating. He eyed me with amusement and answered me with a slight hint of humour at every question I asked, and I felt like I was making a fool out of myself for no reason since the girls didn't seem to take the clue and stayed where they were.

Fortunately, Sasuke had to go and help carry in another load of drinks so I took that as an opportunity to straight-talk his oblivious admirers. "You're too late. Sasuke's already dating my sister so hands off."

The one that looked like a blonde bimbo with obvious fake boobs wasn't fazed. "He's only been here for a few weeks. You're sister doesn't own him, does she? I don't see her name plastered on his forehead. Or maybe she's tattooed it on his ass? I'll just check and see later tonight."

The other one just giggled. Chaperoning Sasuke was hard, but restraining the urge to punch a couple of his fans was even harder. I hoped Karin would be here soon, or else this party won't end well.

When Sasuke came back I grabbed his arm and swerved him away from the girls, saying I wanted to dance, and started to pull him into the next room. Sasuke was obviously surprised, since he stopped me as soon as we were out of the kitchen and held me by the shoulders. He frowned slightly. "You're acting strange." He stated. Well, that was blunt.

I laughed nervously. "Am I? I think it's the wine; it's getting to me a little. But come on Sasuke, it's a party, lighten up. How about I introduce you to some more friends?"

He nodded and I led him to a corner of the room where I spotted Tenten, Temari and some of the guys in our school. They were huddled together laughing, some seemingly drunker than others, as they wobbled lightly on their feet. I was sure that sooner or later, Tenten and Temari would have a competition on who can cope with the most amounts of shots before passing out, as they always did in parties, and I dreaded that moment.

Tenten squealed when she caught sight of me, her stumbling form approaching us followed by a much sober looking Temari, as she enveloped me in a bone crushing hug. "Oh Sakuraaa! Its soooo good to see you!" She shouted out. Then she caught sight of Sasuke and gasped. "Oh my God, you were right! He is a total hottie!"

I wished that the earth had cracked open and swallowed me up right there and then. Why were my friends so humiliating! Heat rose to my cheeks and I ended up avoiding eye contact with Sasuke due to sheer embarrassment. This was the second time that Sasuke has heard me call him hot.

To make things worse, Temari propped her arm on Tenten's shoulder and then winked at me. "So Sasuke, you keeping our little Alice here under good control? Because if she starts drinking, then you might have to start playing bad cop and put her in cuffs."

"I don't mind if you put me in cuffs. I know a lot of tricks." Tenten giggled.

I was mortified and had to resist the urge to smack my head into a wall. This was so bad! What were Tenten and Temari thinking!?

"Guys, I think that's enough for now, don't you? Stop giving Sasuke a hard time." I laughed nervously, but they merely ignored me as they continued to eye Sasuke in a flirtatious manner.

"Oooh getting a little jealous now Sakuuuu?" Tenten taunted, sticking her tongue out at me in a childish manner. "Come on, we'll do a swap. You can have Neji for the night and I'll have Sasuke. How about that?"

Sasuke coughed, as if to remind us all that he was still here, and I knew then that I had to get him away from them before this conversation turned even more humiliating.

"Tenten! Sasuke and I aren't together, we're just friends. And since when did you and Neji hit it off?" I asked.

Temari smiled. "They haven't, yet. Tenten's been leading him on all night while they were dancing and she's even gone as far as showing off a bit of cleavage through that ghost buster's outfit."

Tenten frowned. "Says you! You couldn't keep your legs of Shikamaru and I swear his hand was on your ass!"

I took this as an opportunity to excuse myself and Sasuke as I pulled him gratefully away from the very drunk pair. When we were out of earshot, I sheepishly smiled at Sasuke and tucked a few loose strands behind my ear. "Sorry about those two. They can be pretty crazy at times, especially when they're drunk and start spewing random nonsense. Forget what they said earlier."

"Don't worry about it. I've seen worse. So, you've come as Alice huh?"

"Yeah, Ino helped me pick this outfit, but it's no way near as good as Karin's. I can't tell you what she's come as though, that's a surprise."

"Hn. It's nice, suits you." He said.

I was speechless. Did Sasuke Uchiha just compliment me? I felt my cheeks redden and he must have sensed this, since he looked away in slight embarrassment. It was…cute.

"Thank you. And, er, you look great as well. But where did you get that police Anbu vest? They look just like the real thing and from what I know only trained officers are allowed to wear them."

Sasuke smirked, and this time he seemed genuinely interested in what I had asked, since he answered with a proud hint to his voice, "I want to work in the police force when Im older, well the Anbu division to be more specific, and this is actually Hatake Kakashi's."

My eyes widened. "Wait, the Hatake Kakashi's? I know him!"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "You do? How?"

I smiled. It felt exciting to somehow finally feel connected to Sasuke, to share something similar and involved in his world. "Well, I don't know if you knew this, but Karin isn't actually my sister. She's a distant relative to me."

He nodded his head as if to say, yes I know, but he still looked confused, so I continued. "When she was a child she lost her parents in a horrible accident. Kakashi had been the officer who had informed us, and he was the one that had made sure Karin was in good hands before giving her away to us. He came around to check up on how she was doing frequently, and I guess before we knew it he'd formed a close bond with us all. Dad did some work for the police station as well a couple of years back, but he left that job since it was too threatening for the family, and he didn't want to put us at risk."

"That's pretty surprising actually. I never knew that." He said.

"Yeah, well, it's not that interesting. But enough about me, what about you? How do you know Kakashi?"

Sasuke looked away and ran a hand through his hair. Then he looked at me and smirked. "Let's just say I wasn't the best behaved child when I was younger. That's all past now though."

I was shocked but also intrigued by this fact. So Sasuke wasn't the goody-two shoes I thought he was at the beginning. I could admit that, once I got to know him a little, he wasn't so bad at all, but actually pretty interesting and fun to be around.

Just then, we were interrupted by Naruto and Kiba who both slapped Sasuke on the back and winked at me. "Mind if we take Sasuke here for a while? We promise to return him." Kiba asked.

I rolled my eyes but smiled nonetheless and nodded. "Sure thing. Just be sure to bring him back before the clock strikes twelve."

Naruto and Kiba laughed and Sasuke didn't seem to mind the amusement.

"Sure thing! You here that princess, you get to have a bit of fun before going back to Sakura here!" Kiba said, before the two moved Sasuke away and closer to where everyone was dancing. From the corner of my eye, I could see that he was being introduced to the rest of the guys from our school, so I didn't mind leaving him for a little while.

I fled to the kitchen, where I found Ino talking to Sai. It looked like she was making headway with him as he was smiling and nodding at her, but I couldn't help but worry for her. I knew that it would be no use mentioning my doubts to Ino, and when Sai noticed me, he smiled and waved me over. I inwardly groaned. Let the insults start.

"Hag." He greeted me, smiling one of those fake smiles again.

"Zombie." I replied, glaring at Sai.

He opened his eyes. "That's a new one. When did you come up with that?"

I smiled maliciously. "Just now actually; wanted to see if you'd be nice to me for once but alas, you let me down, as always." I placed my hand on my chest where my heart would be in mock hurt. "I think it suits you actually. It would have been better if you came dressed as one too, instead of a vampire."

Ino sighed. "You two will never change will you?"

I scowled in frustration. "He started it, as usual."

"Hag, stop being so childish." Sai commented.

I sighed. I knew that Sai never actually meant his nicknames for me, but it still annoyed me. We continued to chat for a while about the party, before Ino suggested that we dance. It was when we were out of the kitchen again that I spotted Sasuke with that blonde bimbo from earlier, along with two other new girls. Chaperoning a good looking guy was obviously going to be my full-time job.

I strode over and interrupted the conversation. "So, Sasuke, this is a lovely house. I'd love it if you got to show me what's upstairs. Do you mind?"

Sasuke almost looked thankful for the interruption, since he nodded and pulled me away from the girls. "I heard you particularly liked the flooring. And it's just bedrooms upstairs, but I'll show you anyway."

I made a mental note to tell Naruto to shut his mouth and stop passing on stuff I say to everyone. I also decided I wasn't going to be embarrassed by this deliberate wind up. I was determined to prise him away from his relentless admirers, so even though I probably sounded like a slut, I just hooked my arm through his and said, "Thanks Sasuke. Let's go."

Sasuke's room was large but, unlike what I expected, it wasn't stuffed with a ton of expensive things. The walls were a rich, blue colour and in the back-middle of the room was a large, king sized bed. On the opposite wall was a flat screen TV, and what seemed to be other gaming gadgets were placed neatly on shelves below. On the left side of the room was a long wardrobe, and next to it was a beautiful glass desk with a laptop and a computer placed neatly on top. There was a large mirror on top of the bed, and a small chandelier that caused the light to scatter gracefully all around the room. The room also had an ensuite bathroom, which I envied Sasuke for the most- it would be great to not have to share a bathroom with Karin who spent ages in the morning putting on make-up. But the best thing about the room was the glass doors on the right side of the room that led to the balcony.

"Wow. I love your room." I said after a while of admiration. I heard him 'Hn', which I now translated as 'Yes' or 'Thank you' in Sasuke language.

"Thanks. I like it simple though." He said.

"Yeah, I can tell, but I think that by doing so you're making it look modern and classy at the same time."

I moved over to the balcony doors, which Sasuke said I could open, and we stood outside in silence for a while. I scanned the street for any sign of Karin, who was coming by Taxi. Nothing yet. I went on about how lucky he was for having a balcony; he could come out here to calm his thoughts and relax and no one would be able to disturb him. Then I talked about how lovely the breeze was; it made the view seem even better and it was the perfect spot to cool down after being squashed between hot, sweaty, dancing teenagers.

By the time I was finished, I felt tired and I was growing impatient. Karin was taking too long and I didn't think that Sasuke really enjoyed being around me as much, though he didn't seem to actually mind. I turned to face him and by breath got caught in my mouth; he looked angelic and yet demonic at the same time in this calm night, and I couldn't help but let go of all thoughts and feelings at that moment. Sasuke really is gorgeous, and I was glad that I was able to meet someone like him. At the same time I also felt disappointed, but I didn't know why. Something inside me told me that maybe, just maybe, I was slightly jealous that Karin had got him instead of me, but I brushed that thought aside. I liked Sasori not Sasuke. I knew I did.

Just then, I heard a car door slam outside, and when I looked down I almost cried in happiness- Karin was finally here! I grabbed Sasuke and walked back inside. "C'mon, Karin's here."

Sasuke didn't actually seem bothered, but then again Sasuke always had an indifferent face on. I was sure that he was actually glad on the inside. I shooed him out to meet her; I was sure that Karin would change his mood, especially with what she had prepared for him for tonight.

* * *

Downstairs I spotted Karin and waved to her. To my fury, she waved lazily back, and then continued to flirt with the three guys she was talking to, presumably to appear totally cool about seeing Sasuke again and probably to make him a bit jealous. This was the last straw. I grabbed Sasuke by the hand and guided him firmly over to Karin, then, despite her embarrassed frown and his confused expression, I said "Here he is," then left the pair together.

Karin got me on my own later and had a go at me for being obvious and tactless, but I refused to feel guilty. Looking after Sasuke, although it was fun, had been hard work. Now I was free to enjoy myself at last.

I spotted a large group of people crowding around that same corner Temari and Tenten had been in, and I guessed that the pair's usual shot competition had started. I pushed myself through the crowd and came to a halt when instead of seeing Tenten and Temari competing, it was actually Ino and Tenten. Apparently both were on to their fifth, with Ino already having drunk a Bacardi Breezer, and they two were making complete idiots out of themselves. I spotted poor Hinata in the background trying to calm the two down while Temari laughed her head off and filmed the whole thing. Honestly, my best friends actually never learnt. It was only when Ino and Tenten both stood on to the table, wobbling in heels, and started dancing and trying to strip at the same time that I knew this had definitely gotten out of control.

I got Sai and Neji to help me put an end to their drunken antics, much to the male audience's disapproval, as both of them were forcibly taken down, slurring profanities and giggling at the same time.

We tried our best to calm them down and talk them out of the worst of their alcohol fused ideas, and when Sai had taken Ino upstairs to the bathroom so that she could vomit the contents of her drink out, Tenten had ended up laughing and started shouting 'Im the winner!" over and over again, until she eventually threw up over a pile of jackets in the hall.

Neji helped me clean up the mess, but it wasn't easy or pleasant, especially if you're trying to remove all visible traces with a damp cloth and some paper towels, but eventually we managed to do it. The jackets still stank of puke though, so we sprayed them with some cheap, flowery stuff some girl had offered us, and some of the boys ended up complaining that they'd have preferred their jackets to smell of vomit but Im sure they didn't mean it. Almost sure anyway.

By the time we finished clearing up and both Ino and Tenten seemed to be on some level of soberness, they were embarrassed by their actions; not just for being sick in front of the two males that they liked, but also for trying to strip and for the imitation of a pole-dance on the banister.

"I bet we put up a great show though," Tenten had whispered to me and Ino once Sai and Neji were out of ear shot, and Ino ended up grinning.

"Are you kidding me? We were the best entertainment of the night. No one will stop talking about us for another month!"

As usual at parties though, I ended up in the kitchen washing up. I think it's because im not interested in flirting around with anyone, and if you're not all over some guy people assume that you have nothing better to do. In all honestly, I suppose I haven't. Sasuke's parents had hired cleaners to come in the morning but that was a waste of money and time; there was no way we could let anyone find all the empty bottles of alcohol or clear up spilled drinks and worse. We had to be extra careful too, since Sasuke's parents didn't seem to be the type that accepted underage drinking.

Sasuke came to help for a while and took bags of empty bottles and rubbish out to the boot of Naruto's car for disposal at the dump. I asked Karin to help but she said she couldn't in case she ruined her outfit, and I had picked it after all. I handed her a striped apron I had found hanging in the closet but she'd looked at it as if I'd just passed her a rotting carcass and said "Ugh, no way." When Sasuke returned she spirited him off, so in the end me, Naruto, Hinata, Neji and Tenten were left clean up, though Tenten did nothing except for sit on the sofa and watch some TV. We'd ushered everyone out of the house at one in the morning, and most people ended up getting lifts together. Ino had left with Sai and Temari with her brothers Gaara and Kankuro. Naruto was dropping me off and Tenten was staying over at Hinata's tonight, which meant that she would be getting a lift from Neji.

At least Sasuke's parents had locked all the bedroom doors so I wouldn't have to send Naruto upstairs for a used condom check. There are some clean up jobs that I just _won't_ do. Nevertheless, Naruto checked out the toilets and closets but found nothing incriminating.

At ten past two I did a final quick search of each room for any party evidence. I found two discarded beer cans that had been used as ashtrays but that was it. I was satisfied that unless Sasuke's parents had hired a team of forensic scientists than they'd never know what had really gone on in the party.

Hmm-or would they? The place still smelled of vomit, alcohol and cigarettes so I got a con f air freshener from the bathroom and sprayed it as liberally as I dared throughout the whole house. I didn't go totally mad like I did last time at Ino's party- her mum nearly had an asthma attack when she got home. I wasn't sure whether Sasuke's parents were asthmatic or not but I wasn't prepared to risk it.

At last we were finished and ready to go. Tenten was fast asleep on the couch, so Neji went to wake her up, but she wouldn't budge from her position so he ended up having to half carry her half drag her to the car, a giggling Hinata following after them. I wanted to wait for Karin to come down but Naruto said that he was tired and told me to go up and offer her a lift home now, otherwise she's have to make her own arrangements.

I was really embarrassed about disturbing them but Sasuke's parents would be back soon so I'd have to warn them. I made my way upstairs, meaning to knock gently on Sasuke's door, but before I even got there Karin came hurtling down the stairs, sobbing.

Oh my God. Karin never cried. What had happened? What had Sasuke done to her? For a moment I thought that he must have hit on her, but she's wanted that, hadn't she? I know because she'd even put two condoms in her bag tonight, saying 'just in case' and giggled about it. I'd been a bit shocked at first since she hardly knew him. Still, it wasn't my business what she got up to.

She wouldn't speak to me at first, just rushed past me through the hall and out of the front door. Sasuke appeared at the top of the stairs, scowling slightly. I glared at him and shouted, "You better not have done anything to upset Karin."

Sasuke ran a hand through his hair and let out a groan. "Shit. Look, I didn't do anything to hurt your sister. Maybe she's just had a bit too much to drink."

I wasn't prepared to stand there and watch him tell me more lies and excuses, and I decided to get the real story from Karin. I told him that I needed to talk to my sister and not to bother seeing me out, then stomped off, not bothering to shut the door behind me.

I was surprised when I heard it close with a loud bang behind me. Oh, so that's how it was going to be! Fine Uchiha.

* * *

_Okay, that was an extra-long chapter, right? I hoped it pleased you! Next chapter will be even more fun to write! And hopefully it'll be a quick update too, since Im not ill anymore (Halllelluujjaah!)_

_Tell me what you thought when you comment below, and if you enjoyed this story and want more then don't forget to follow/favourite! Thank you for being patient with me. If you have any questions then don't hesitate to ask._

_Much Love_

_Ash_


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